Raven's Quest 1: Truehope
by ahilty
Summary: When Raven loses her powers to another wizard she must return to Azarath in order to get the one item that can help her get them back. But what happens when she starts to like life without dark powers? Mostly fantasy, but a bit of BBRae romance subplot
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

This is my first fan fiction. It is a Teen Titans one, mainly about Raven. Its basically a fantasy adventure type deal, but there is going to be a bit of a BB/Rae romance subplot going on as well. So if you, for some reason, don't like that particular paring then go ahead and leave the building.

It must be said, therefore, that most of these characters are not my own, with the exception of a few. These characters were originally brought to this earth by someone in DC comics (the same guys who brought us Superman and Batman) so, know that I DID NOT CREATE MOST OF THESE CHARACTHERS. However, these stories are original, not retelling of something that I read in the comic or saw on television. Also note, that I will also make some references (and indirectly involve) the bizarre Outer Gods of H. P. Lovecraft, as apparently a bunch of writers have done before me. So what I am trying to say is, no I don't own Teen Titans, nor do I own anything from Lovecraft.

But there will be a few characters popping up which are my own, for now it has only been the Matron, The Black Fox and Dralor. These guys are MINE.

For those of you who are obsessed with accuracy of timelines (like I am sometimes) please not that these stories are set in the future of the Teen Titians universe, and I am talking about the cartoon version of events, not the comic book one. Sometime after that Tokyo movie, I think.

One last thing. I don't really read the Teen Titans comic books. So I know next to nothing about Azarath. So that means I'm going to do what I usually do in this kind of situation. I'm going to make up a bunch of stuff. Since the cartoon only addressed the place about once I consider it free territory. Sorry. If this somehow offends you, well there is the door…

Enjoy.

* * *

Prologue

On a certain planet Earth in a certain dimension on a certain small island stands a rather large building in the shape of a T. This is the Titans Tower, and it is probably the most conspicuous super hero lair on its planet. Perhaps there is another one more obvious in another dimension, but if there is it has yet to be discovered. It is, perhaps, a miracle that no one has managed to bomb the place into oblivion yet (though it was sat upon once).

We will discuss the residents of this particular monolith later, but right now our attention must turn outward towards space. In fact, it must go even further than the edge of this dimension's universe and into the dark and incomprehensible places between the spheres.

In this darkness there is music, but not the pleasant kind. The music of the spheres is as dark and wild as the creatures that create it. This is not something that should normally be heard, but some people do. And sometimes those people hear things that will shake the multiverse to the core.

In the darkness something stirred, something as vast as the universe itself. Something that lives in the darkness, but yet is far worse than anything that darkness has been able to produce.

A word was whispered, perhaps as a summons, perhaps as a warning, perhaps as an announcement.

"Nyarlathotep."

The name of the Crawling Chaos reverberated throughout the cosmos, yet in the vast reaches only three beings heard it.

* * *

One was the Teen Titan known as Raven. She usually could hear the music of the spheres playing in the background when she meditated, though she never mentioned this to any of her fellow Titans. For one thing it did not seem that important, as the music had remained unchanged and harmless for the last fifty or so years. Supposedly it had changed seventy or so years ago, but she had not been alive to hear it. To her the music was just a part of the natural order of things, and since it never changed or seemed in any why harmful she felt no need to mention it to the others. However, this time she was sure she heard a voice, and she was pretty sure she heard the name. 

She knew about the Crawling Chaos, of course, most of her people did know that he existed, but as far as she knew no one had ever mentioned hearing his name being spoken before. In fact, no one from Azarath ever spoke the true name of an Outer God at all.

Raven listened some more, now a bit nervous. If even half of the stories about Nyarlathotep were true then they could all be in trouble. She did not, however, hear anything else out of place.

She debated on whether or not she should tell the others about this. She doubted that any of them knew even the slightest little rumor concerning the Crawling Chaos, so she would have to explain a lot to them, including the music of the spheres and the Outer Gods. She really did not want to do that. The Outer Gods made her father Trigon look like a loving teddy bear, and she did not feel at all comfortable about having to discuss them. On the other hand if Nyarlathotep was stirring…

She decided to just keep listening and waiting. It could be that she was just imagining things, and it would be silly to go raving about evil alien gods if nothing was wrong.

If she heard anything else, then she would tell them.

Maybe.

* * *

Nearer to the Titans home world that would have been comfortable for Raven's peace of mind walked the trickster being known as the Black Fox. A troublemaker by instinct but a good being by employment, the Black Fox was one of the more unique beings in any universe. She was not an Outer God or an Elder God or any other type of god, although some foolish mortals tended to call her such. She found this annoying, but she could not really do anything about it sort of blasting some of the silly yahoos out of existence, but that would just leave more of a "godlike" impression. So she just tried to tolerate it as best she could. 

She also heard the voice speak the name of Nyarlathotep, but she knew that it was not her imagination. Her imagination did not usually stir up voices muttering the names of irritating beings. Mostly her imagination was occupied in planning something necessary to the survival of the universe, but often quite painful for any mortals involved.

She listened, but heard nothing else emanated from the Center, where that moron Azathoth listened to that annoying flute music while he sat drooling (the Black Fox has never been known for respecting others, especially those she finds an annoyance).

So. Nyarlathotep. It had been awhile since she had encountered him, and it was high time they came face to face once more. If he came around then she would have to find a way to stop whatever he was planning.

Not because she felt like being a hero, but because she found him rather trying.

She thought for a moment, then decided that it was time she manipulated somebody's life. Someone who could help with foiling the Crawling Chaos's plans…

The Black Fox focused in on the Teen Titans world and grinned. She saw the possibilities and the chances, and she liked them. Not only would this help, but it would also be a load of fun. And, as it turned out, it would also bring her a step closer to reviving the Seven Dragonborn, which was one of her main goals.

She could tell that one of the Teen Titans could become the Dragon of Magic, if the circumstances were right.

Her grin grew wider, and she started in with her favorite activity.

Manipulation.

* * *

The last person who heard the name spoken lived in Azarath, the place where Raven was born and raised. In fact, the person who heard it was, at least partly, responsible for Raven's presence on Earth in the first place. She was the Matron, leader of the Temple of Azarath, the third child of the king of the Nazlar race, and Raven's aunt on her father's side. 

Anyone who had seen Trigon, a large red demon with four glowing red eyes and antlers, would have been surprised by his older sister's appearance. It was true that she was tall, but she was only eight feet tall, while Trigon was roughly eight stories tall. As a Nazlar female she greatly resembled a human, but she had cloven hooves instead of feet, and her eyes were almost the same purple color as Raven's.

Nyarlathotep, she knew, was one of the most evil beings she knew of, surpassing her brother with almost comical ease. Though she knew that the creature must be coming soon, she could do nothing to stop him. As the leader of the Temple she could not break their laws and customs, and one of those laws was noninterference with the rest of the universe and annoying strict pacifism. Only the Makhar sect of the Temple priests were allowed to do battle, and there were only two left in existence, and one was an old minotaur way past his prime (the other was, of course, Raven). There was actually a very good reason for this, but sometimes it was also a great hindrance.

The Matron wished that she could contact her niece, but that was not a very good idea, at least not at this time. While she did have the power to establish the necessary mental contact and she did technically have the right to do so, she did not want to draw any unnecessary attention to Raven. Dralor was getting more and more agitated about Raven's actions, despite the fact that so far all his predictions of her becoming a monster were false. The Matron was afraid that someday Dralor would throw common sense out the window, go to Earth himself, and attack Raven directly, despite the fact that he was supposed to be a pacifist like the majority of the Temple. The Matron could tell that this explosion could be soon, and was afraid that contacting Raven would be the last straw for Dralor.

So, she could not contact her niece, even though she thought it was important. She could try to go to the Counsel and try to talk them into doing something, but that would also inevitably draw unnecessary attention to Raven, which would draw more anger from Dralor. That and the fact that the Counsel had a tendency to over talk subjects to their inevitable death.

For now all the Matron could do was watch the situation closely, and hope that Raven had heard what she had heard and do something about it. After watching her niece closely through a mirror the Matron was just about convinced that this group that Raven had joined could accomplish anything. They had, after all, defeated her brother when it seemed no one else could. If anyone could best the Crawling Chaos it would be them.

The Matron hoped.

* * *

(A/N: I didn't just pull "the music of the spheres" out of thin air, by the way. I read about it in an Edger Allen Poe poem. I think the ancient Greeks yapped about it as well…or was it the Mesopotamians? Well anyway…I don't really know what it is really supposed to be in the poem so…I'm making stuff up again. I do this a lot. Oh, the poem is called "The Conqueror Worm", and I don't own it either. 

Warning: the next chapters or going to be much longer than this. This was just a prologue after all.)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

The Thing in the Closet

It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day that morning, but that did not stop Raven from being grumpy. Even the fact that she had not heard anything odd after that first mention of Nyarlathtep's name did not cause her to be cheery at all. The truth was that she was simply not a morning person, not to mention that it was, once again, her birthday.

After what had happened last year, she was not disposed to be cheerful at all. In fact, she was very much inclined to stay in her room and read the day away. However, around seven she heard a rather loud scraping coming from her closet, and an annoyed horse like whinny that indicated that the creature she was hiding in there was hungry and wanted to be feed and now if at all possible.

Ordering the creature in the closet to be quiet in case anyone heard it, Raven left her room and headed toward the kitchen. She was also hungry, and decided that the closet dweller could wait for its breakfast. She had given the glutton a midnight snack just last night, after all. She was growing concerned that her little secret in the closet might be getting fat; even though she made sure it got exercise. However, it was better to let a thing like that be well fed, considering that it was a carnivore that would eat just about anything that did not eat it first.

After a quick check around the kitchen area to make sure none of the others were around to ask awkward questions about why she was sneaking food to her room, Raven grabbed up a small ham and after some debate a large apple for the creature. Despite the fact that the creature was primarily a meat eater it seemed to like apples as well. She slipped the small horde into a pocket dimension that she set aside for such things so that when she went back to her room she could give the food to the creature without having to hide things under her cloak.

Satisfied that she had sneaked food successfully, for some reason no one managed to notice the fact that food would occasionally disappear from the refrigerator, Raven set about trying to find something to feed herself.

She settled for cereal, seeing as how she could not cook and didn't want to wait for someone to cook for her. Even though the closet creature could not really escape from said closet, it could make a lot of noise if it got grumpy. Raven was concerned that if the others started hearing whinnying and stamping in her room they would try to investigate. If they accidentally stumbled on the thing while she was away, like the time Beast Boy and Cyborg discovered her mirror…

_He didn't used to be so restless, not when we first got here. He was content to stay in that closet for quite some time. It's only recently that he's started to act out. _

While Raven was brooding over the recent behavior of her secret the other Titans came into the ops room, apparently in the middle of a strangely quiet discussion. The talking abruptly ended when they spotted Raven.

Raven had a feeling she knew what they must have been discussing. After all, it was her birthday again, and the last time it had rolled around the team had decided to throw her a surprise party. She had not enjoyed it, especially when Slade had shown up with a message from her father. She did not think that the others would want to try to celebrate her birthday again, but from the way they were looking at her she was afraid that that was exactly what they were thinking.

Her intuition proved correct when Robin came up and sat down beside her, looking a bit on the nervous side.

"Umm, Raven" he said "you remember what day it is?"

"Tuesday," she growled, trying her best to be discouraging. It did not work.

"Look, I know last year was kind of bad for you, but the others and I were talking and we that this time we can-"

He kept talking, but Raven was only half listening. She was starting to get a good idea. The ops room did not look decorated as it had the first time they had sprung a party on her, and she had a feeling that they were not going to unless she told them it was alright. Decorating could take some time. Time she could use by taking her little secret out for a breath of fresh air that it seemed to need so desperately.

"-and besides that, Trigon is gone now. There isn't anything to worry about from his end, right?" Robin concluded.

"Fine," Raven grumbled her mind busy sorting out the particulars of getting the creature in and out of the tower in broad daylight.

"Really? All right!" Beast Boy bellowed. He, Starfire and Cyborg had been closely following Robin's birthday monologue.

"At least this time you bothered to ask." Raven said, making it perfectly clear from her tone that this deal did not thrill her at all. "But if I see any pink balloons I promise I'll blow them up."

"Great, now let's start decorating this place!" Cyborg said with much more energy than anyone had a right to have at seven in the morning.

"When you guys are done, call me on the communicator." Raven said as she started to leave "I have things to do today."

"What things?" Starfire asked curiously.

"Things" Raven growled, being vague on purpose.

"But where are you going?" Starfire tried again.

"Out." Raven said as she left the room.

The others looked at the doorway with almost identical expressions of puzzlement.

"That was odd." Robin said finally "I didn't expect her to give in that easily."

"I think she's finally getting used to used to us " Beast Boy said cheerily "who knows, in two or three more years she might actually start smiling more than once every two months or so!"

_No_, Robin thought _she is up to something. I can tell._ In fact, Robin was quite sure that she was hiding something from the rest of them, as she always seemed to be. The only reason he had not asked her about it was the fact that he was confident that she would tell them when she was ready. You could not rush someone like Raven into telling you all of their secrets. It tended to push them away rather than draw them closer to you. Besides, Robin knew that Raven would never do anything to hurt her friends.

Robin decided not to worry about it. After all, there was still a lot of work to do before the party could officially begin.

They all set upon there separate tasks. Starfire and Beast Boy were in charge of decorating the tower. Most of the ribbons and balloons they had were blue and purple, but Beast Boy could not help but dig up a few pink ones to throw into the mix, just to see if Raven really would spot them and make them explode. To add to the joke he found a red magic marker and drew large red targets on each of the four bright pink balloons. He had literally bought hundreds of balloons, and he lightly tossed the balloons all over the place, so it looked like a little balloon convention. Starfire occupied herself with the ribbons, most of which merely stated "Happy Birthday Raven!", but at least three of them had odd Tamaranian phrases that Starfire insisted where appropriate for the occasion.

Robin was in charge of the cake. As it turned out he could make a very good cake. Unlike last year's, which had been at least seven layers high and had supported three different colors of icing, this new one was only three layers (but they were pretty big layers) and had only blue icing. There was one other very interesting feature though: Robin had some how learned how to make edible decorations out of spun sugar. For this new cake he created a rather large black bird out of sugar, and had placed the thing on top of the cake. He refused to tell anyone where in the world he acquired this particular skill, but it looked impressive, not to mention delicious.

Beast Boy decided not to tell Robin that his bird resembled a crow more than a raven.

Cyborg was putting the finishing touches on what he and Beast Boy were calling the Coup de Grace (you could tell that they literally thought of it in capital letters). The Coup de Grace was, in fact, a plain looking circular silver locket that the entire team had chipped in to buy for Raven. Although the thing was plain when they first bought it, Cyborg had taken the thing to his room the moment they brought it home, determined to "personalize it". As it turned out Cyborg's skill with metal was not limited to things like cars and spaceships. He had managed to find a jet stone carving of a bird in flight and had attached it to the plain surface of the necklace. And was not simply a hasty glue job, Cyborg had somehow managed to make it look like it was there from the start. The team had then poised for a group picture and put into the locket. They planned to give it to Raven as the last present, from all of them.

As for the rest of the presents, most of them had literally come from the other honorary Titans around the globe. Most of them did not know Raven that well, and so did not have any clue on what to get her. Because of this, there was a great quantity of birthday cards with no presents attached to them, but all of said cards had money inside of them. The honorary Titans had figured that Raven could use the cash to get whatever she felt like getting.

However, there were two rather large packages in the midst of the cards. Melvin and her group of child superheroes, who had grown fond of Raven during the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil, had sent a huge rectangular package of something that was surprisingly light. The other large package had come from a surprising source: Jinx and her new partner Kid Flash. This large thing was also rectangular, but you could tell just by looking at it that it was some sort of book, the perfect gift for someone like Raven. At first Beast Boy had not wanted to include it without checking it out first. He was still not completely convinced that Jinx had really turned over a new leaf and was fighting for the good guys now. He was afraid that it might be some sort of magical trap for Raven, so he was determined to open just to make sure it didn't let loose a magical tornado or something like that.

Robin had to practically order him not to do that. Robin thought that Jinx deserved a chance, even though she used to be an enemy.

There were a few other presents, from the team, and these were pilled in the middle of the room, just waiting to be opened.

For the rest of the morning, the Titans worked to make this the best party they could, unaware that Raven was spending her day with a monster.

* * *

Raven entered her room, and was greeted to the sounds of insistent scratching and banging from the closet.

"Be quiet, Mithrah" Raven growled "you're going to attract attention to yourself!"

She entered the closet, which at first appeared to only contain her spare cloaks. However, when you walked to the other end of the small room you could see a strange little symbol on the wall. Raven gestured and muttered something under her breath, and wall opened up for her into yet another pocket dimension, which she entered without hesitation. She emerged on a grassy area, about the size of the ops center which she had just left. It was small, primitive pocket dimension, it did not even have weather patterns, and the only feature in it was an oak tree in the distance.

The closet creature gave a joyful whinny, tossed its head and began to dance around Raven with an expression of love on its equine face.

Anyone from Azarath could have told you what this thing was; it was a black night horse, a stallion. He was, in many ways, similar to an Earth horse. However, he had a pair of large bat like wings, a pair of spiral horns similar to the horns of an antelope, orange eyes and sharp fangs. He was also much smarter than any Earth animal, even a bit smarter than dolphins or apes. Like most night horses he could shoot lightning from his horns. However, since he was a rare black night horse he was also capable of flight, but he was too young to have taken off yet. Raven had been trying to teach him this skill ever since she left home, but Mithrah had never flown yet. Perhaps it was because he was still a young night horse; in fact he was still practically a colt.

Raven decided to encourage him to fly right now. She pulled out the ham from the other pocket dimension and lifted it high with her powers. She then hurled the thing as far as she could, hoping that Mithrah would fly up and catch it. This did not happen, instead, Mithrah chased his food to the other end of the dimension until it dropped on the ground, then he scooped it up and literally swallowed it whole.

Raven was a bit disappointed, but not very surprised. Not for the first time she wondered if Mithrah was some sort of height fearing horse. When Mithrah trotted back to her she just gave him his apple. Mithrah loved apples, despite the fact that his diet manly consisted of meat.

Once again, Raven thought about giving up this little deception with Mithrah and showing her "pet" to her friends. When she had first joined the team she was determined to keep the horse a secret, mainly because she was afraid that they would not want a slightly carnivorous horse trotting around the tower, ready to take a bite out of someone. She was afraid that Robin would order her to get rid of him, and Raven would rather leave the Titans before she would do that. This concern had dissipated with the appearance of Silkie, Starfire's pet. If she could have a large worm as a pet than surly Raven could keep her horse. However, there was another problem. Although Mithrah was perfectly nice to Raven, he was not so nice to the rest of the world. When faced with strangers he had a bad tendency to nip and bite, and those inch long fangs could make some serious holes. Raven was afraid that her energetic friends, especially Beast Boy, would startle Mithrah into attacking. Despite the fact that he looked a lot like a horse Mithrah was no prey animal. He would rather fight than run when was startled, and he was a very large and powerful creature. She did not to see either her friends or her horse hurt, and that keep Mithrah firmly in his closet. However, if she could just get them to understand that they had to be quiet around Mithrah, at least until he got used to them…

It really was not fair to keep Mithrah cooped up in a closet, no matter how nice Raven tried to make it for him. But if he went crazy and attacked someone…

Raven just did not know what to do with Mithrah. She loved the horse as much as she had begun to care for her friends, and that was part of the problem. She did not want to have to choose between her adopted "family" and the creature that she had literally raised from the egg.

When you raise an animal you usually get attached to said animal, even if your dark powers forces you to keep every little emotion in check.

After a while, she decided it was time to take Mithrah out for a little run. He seemed restless and ready to leave, perhaps sensing her intentions. She would think of what to do with him after she had gotten him some much needed exercise.

Raven flew up to the top of the oak tree and found the saddle and harness she kept there for when she wanted to ride Mithrah. The saddle itself resembled a western saddle in shape, but lacked the distinctive western horn, nor did it have stirrups. You did not need stirrups for a night horse, their wings were so powerful you could literally stand on one and not hurt the horse, so when you rode a night horse you used the bases of their wings to rest your feet on instead of stirrups. In all other respects it was a perfectly normal looking saddle. The harness, however, was a bit different. You could not use normal reins and a bit for a night horse, their sharp teeth would snipe through metal quite easily, and would only succeed in annoying the night horse in question. Instead, the harness fit around the neck of the night horse like a collar on a dog, and the reins extended from the collar like a normal rein should. Normal reins are meant to steer a normal horse, but a well trained night horse like Mithrah could be directed with light twitches on the reins and verbal commands.

After Mithrah was saddled and ready to go, Raven lead the creature out of the pocket dimension and into her room, warning the night horse to be quite. Mithrah complied with the command, though Raven could tell that Mithrah was ready to run or fight, but preferably to fight. He came from a long line of war night horses; his ancestors were literarily bred to fight and kill things. No matter how much Raven tried to calm him down, Mithrah's instincts and genes demanded that he fight and nothing could really change those instincts. So he stamped and snorted impatiently, and only Raven's commands kept him from galloping around the room breaking things.

Raven concentrated and surrounded both herself and her horse in her spectral raven form. This way she could fly to a nice secluded spot away from people, and no one would know that she was carrying a passenger with her.

She decided on going to the desert. She doubted many people would be there, and Mithrah would find the canyons fun.

She was right, almost as soon as she had mounted the night horse, Mithrah was of and galloping like a fool. He paid no attention to minor things like heat or rocks or the occasional poisonous snake. The truth was, Mithrah loved running around with Raven on his back. For some reason which an animal could not really articulate he loved Raven and enjoyed being around her. That was partly the reason for his resent anxiety. He could sense that Raven was spending more and more time with those Others, going into battle and fighting beside them. Mithrah wanted to be fighting with her as well, though he did not understand the reason for fighting. It was not precisely jealously that he felt, but a desire to be fighting beside his herd-mother. Mithrah could not help but see Raven as a mother, since she was the one who raised him when he was a little colt and trained him when got older.

He was not sure that he would like these Others. In Mithrah's mind the only person who really mattered was Raven. He was devoted to her the way a dog was devoted to his master, but without the attitude of subservience that normally characterized a dog. He did not really want to share his "mother" with Others. In fact, he very much wanted to bite Others. However, he could tell that those Others made Raven happy, despite the fact that she did not display happiness very often. Familiarity and animal instincts told Mithrah that Raven liked these Others and was happy with them. He knew that one day Raven would want him to get along with these Others, and he was uncertain about that.

But, if it made Raven happy than he would try to get along with Others

Maybe.

For now, however, he was content to simply run with Raven over the canyons.

Raven herself was still lost in thought about whether or not she should show Mithrah to her friends. She thought that if the proper precautions were taken (said precautions to be done entirely by herself, since she was the one who knew Mithrah best) that it might turn out okay. After all, even though he was a bit temperamental Mithrah was not really a man-eater. He just had a short fuse.

She was still puzzling as noon came and went. Her communicator beeped at her, and at first she wondered what the emergency was. The she remembered the party.

Groaning inwardly, she answered the annoying little mechanical doodad with a sigh. She did not feel like celebrating at all, but she did say that it was okay, even though she did not feel like a party right now. However, she had a feeling that the others had worked hard to do this for her, and she realized that it would be wrong to blow them off. She did not have many social skills, but she understood that much.

When she finally arrived back at the Tower (after sneaking her night horse back to his closet) it was almost one. She entered the living room/ops room/sort of a kitchen, and was amazed at the change. The place had more ribbons and balloons than Raven had seen in her life. Almost immediately, however, she saw four pink interlopers with targets on their helium filled bodies and she instantly dealt with them by sending them floating straight to balloon heaven.

"Four points!" Beast Boy crowed, then he briefly turned into and elephant and made a loud trumpeting noise.

"I did say that I would explode any pink balloons, didn't I?" Raven said, trying her best not to sound amused. Robin grinned as he approached her with a bit pointy party hat. The thing glittered in an obscenely cheerful manner.

"That thing better not be for me." Raven growled.

"No, actually it's mine." Robin said with a grin "But when you see what Star has for you I think you will prefer the hat."

"Meat crown again?"

"Yep."

"Wonderful, just what I always wanted. Headgear made out of beef." Raven muttered dryly to herself. But she did not object too much when Star approached her with the…object.

In fact, a small part of her liked the attention, meat hat and all. No matter how much Raven tried to mentally squash this feeling with willpower and her mantra the feeling stubbornly persisted.

"Oh Raven!" Cyborg said in that annoyingly cheery voice of his "I found that piñata shaped like Beast Boy!" He held up the piñata. "You never got to smack it last year! Wanna give it a go now?" He offered Raven a bat.

After a moment Raven took the bat. She turned to Beast Boy and raised it above her head in an almost joking manner.

"Now, which one is which, again?" She said.

Beast Boy backed away "That's a joke, right? Please tell me you're getting a sense of humor!"

Raven's face gave an odd twitch, as if she was going to laugh but did not quite dare. However, she stopped aiming the bat at Beast Boy and turned to the piñata, which Cyborg held out for her to smack.

Something about the way she held the bat struck Robin as very odd. _Strange, that is not the way you hold a bat._ He thought _it looks more like the way you hold a katana_._ And the way she is swinging it. It looks more like swordplay than anything else. If that bat was a sword…_

Robin decided not to mention this little observation, after all it did not really matter how Raven swung a bat anyway. So he just shrugged and got back to enjoying himself, and making sure that Raven enjoyed herself as much as she would allow herself too.

The party was blissfully uneventful. Not once did the alarm that indicated an attack on the city clang, and for that Robin was grateful. They finally got to introduce Starfire to the infamous Pin the Tail on the Donkey game, which she somehow managed to win. There were enough boxes of take out pizza to feed a team of teenage football players (and in fact there would have been some left over for fans as well). The freezer was literally stuffed with gallon boxes of ice cream in as many flavors and the team could find from the traditional vanilla to a very odd new one filled with crumbs from different types of cookies (Beast Boy fell in love with that one).

There were only three events that cast a brief shadow on the evening, and one of these events occurred when Cyborg and Robin brought out the cake with the huge black sugar bird on the top. The moment she set eyes on that bird Raven's face grew strangely dark and somehow sad, as if the thing reminded her of something or someone she would rather have not recalled. However the expression was there for only an instant and was then gone. Only Beast Boy noticed it, but he had no idea why she would react that way. He almost asked her about it, in fact he would have if the party had happened two or three months ago. But Beast Boy had finally figured out, after being exposed to Raven long enough, that there were just some things you could not talk to her about no matter how hard you nagged. He decided to forget about it and enjoy the cake.

_Maybe she just does not like seeing ravens and crows mixed up. I can understand that._ He thought to himself.

After literally gorging themselves with cake, the team brought out Raven's gifts. The cards were dealt with first, and just as expected all of them contained not only the traditional well wishes but cash in various amounts. The grand total turned out to be around one hundred dollars.However, there was quite a good haul from Raven's teammates: Beast Boy had gotten her a box set of classic monster movies, and not all of them were of the B class either. There were some real good films in that set. Cyborg had braved the local bookstore (a place he only went to under duress, he did not like reading that much) and found some titles he thought might interest Raven. Most of these were of the werewolves, vampires and ghosts genre. Robin had gotten her a big box of her flavor herbal tea, along with an odd item called a "meditation crystal". He had no idea is she could use the thing but it seemed appropriate. Starfire's gift was the oddest of all. It was an odd alien sculpture from some obscure planet that no one had ever heard of except her. However, it was black and seemed to be made primarily of tentacles and looked nice and spooky, so it did suit Raven very well.

The other two packages that did not come from the team were…interesting. The one from the "kids" turned out to be a big box of dark chocolate. Although Raven had never been fond of chocolate she found the fact that they had chosen dark instead of some other flavor as highly ironic.

The present from Jinx did indeed turn out to be a book. In fact it was an encyclopedia. But it was strangely appropriate in that it was entitled The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves and Other Monsters. Although Raven liked it well enough, she noticed that Beast Boy kept shooting it suspicious looks out of the corner of his eyes every so often, as if he was convinced that it was going to get up and start chasing them around.

After Raven had uncovered the last present (the encyclopedia), Cyborg cleared his throat. He grinned and Raven, a very goofy and proud looking smile that for some reason made her nervous.

"And now," he said with the air of a sports caster announcing the star of the football team "the Coup de Grace!"

He then produced a small square package from somewhere and presented it to Raven.

"It's actually from all of us," Robin explained "we all pitched in to get it, but it was Beast Boy's idea."

For some reason the idea that this…item came from Beast Boy made Raven even more nervous, not less. However, she unwrapped the thing to reveal a jewelry box.

Wondering what in the world they could have "pitched in" to get her, Raven opened the box and was startled into speechlessness.

The team had no way of knowing that a black bird in flight was the symbol of the Makhar, the warrior priests of whom Raven was a member of. They had no way of knowing that the bird on this locket was an almost exact copy of this symbol (although technically the Makhar's bird was a black falcon, not a raven as this bird was obviously meant to be). Logically she knew that they could not possibly know this, but she still touched by the gesture all the same.

She was even more touched when Beast Boy opened the locket and showed her the picture inside. It was all of her friends: Robin, Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy in a group photo. Only the fact that Raven had been trained at birth to show as little emotion as possible kept her face reasonably impassive through the entire scene. Deep inside her something really wanted to get up and start distributing hugs (no doubt the "Happy" side of her personality being loud). She ignored it and tried to keep her face as impassive as possible. She did well to, she would have fooled a stranger into to thinking that she was indifferent to the gift, but her friends could tell that she did indeed like it.

"Why?" she managed to say to the room in general, not trusting herself to say anything more than one word.

"Well," said Beast Boy, looking embarrassed "I thought that you might like it." He said, but even in his ears this response sounded lame. What he REALLY wanted to say was: _You are always so alone, Raven. I just wanted to make sure that you were never alone again. Even if it is just a necklace at least you have a reminder that we are always with you._ He wanted to say this, but he did not know how to say it without sounding strange. So he just kind of grinned at Raven like the goof he was on the surface and did not say what he was really thinking. The fact that the others were echoing his thought did not occur to him, but in truth they all believed that Raven needed something like this.

Raven had no idea how to respond to this. She loved the necklace, but did not know the appropriate response to such a gift. She settled for simply putting it on. As she did so she finally and abruptly came to the decision concerning her night horse.

_I should have done this long ago._ She thought as she stood up.

"I have something I need to show all of you." She said. "It's probably long overdue."

"What is it?" Robin asked, trying to hold back raging curiosity.

"Look," Raven said, looking at them all to see if they were taking her seriously (they were) "You guys have to promise to be very quite when I show this to you. Don't make any sudden moves or noises. In fact you should probably go up against the window and stay there."

"What is it?" Cyborg repeated Robin's question "It's not something with fangs is it?" he joked.

"Actually he does have fangs," Raven said "But if everyone is quite and doesn't make any sudden moves or loud noises it should be fine."

_I hope._ Raven thought as she left to retrieve Mithrah. She thought that the best way to handle this was in a place that Mithrah was unfamiliar with. It would actually make him less aggressive if he was in a strange place. It was an odd behavior trait that only belonged to night horses.

While she was gone the others went to the other side of the room and started a little guessing game. They each voiced their own individual opinion on what it could be. Robin was the closest, he believed it was some sort of pet, but he was unprepared for the creature that Raven lead into the room on a strange looking collar and reins. He never would have imagined that Raven had been hiding a big black horse thing with wings, fangs, and horns. It should have looked terrifying, but instead it was one of the most beautiful animals Robin had ever laid eyes on. He was no stranger to fine horses, but this one was the most magnificent he had ever seen in his life, fangs and all. From the rest of the team's reactions he was not the only one who thought this way.

"Ohhhh!" Starfire ooohded at the Mithrah (but fortunately it was a soft, gently oooh and not a loud squealing one) "the creature is beautiful!"

"Awesome!" Beast Boy said with admiration, but the admiration was mainly aimed at the night horse.

"Cool!" Cyborg said enthusiastically, and Mithrah aimed his pointed ears in the young hero's direction. "Now I know why you're not excited by cars, Rae! You're a horse person!"

Raven was only listening to the sounds of approval with half an ear. Most of her attention was diverted to Mithrah. The night horse did not look like he was in a fighting mood. In fact he seemed very relaxed. This was good. As long as he was relaxed there would be not unfortunate incidents.

"Okay everyone," Raven said, suddenly feeling like a lecturer "This is Mithrah. He's a night horse from Azarath. He is a rare magical creature similar to your standard winged horse, only he is a predator. Now night horses like him…"

Robin had never known Raven to talk on and on about anything. In fact it was a chore to get her to say good morning! But apparently night horses were a subject dear to her, and she talked about them in general and Mithrah in particular like Cyborg would talk about the T-Car. Not that what she had to say was not interesting. In fact, Robin found Mithrah fascinating. He had a fondness for horses that went pretty far back, so he listened with great interest.

Once it looked like Raven was ending her night horse lecture, Starfire asked the question that had been on everyone's mind.

"Please, can we pet him?"

Raven was dreading this moment, in fact delaying it had been one of the reasons she had droned on and on. She still was not sure how Mithrah would take being stroked by an alien, a cyborg a…whatever Beast Boy was, and a teenage boy with way too much gel in his hair. However...

Pushing her doubts aside with a mighty mental heave, Raven looked closely at

Starfire to make sure that the alien got the message.

"Yes, I think he will let you, but you must do exactly as I say. Come one at a time. Come slowly and make no sudden moves. Approach him from the front and the front only. Let him sniff you first. If it looks like he is going to bite than back away slowly. Do NOT CROWD HIM. Do all of you understand this?"

Everyone nodded. Starfire was the first to approach the night horse. She followed Raven's instructions to the letter. Mithrah sniffed her with caution. For a long time the creature seemed to think about this strange smelling thing in front of him, then he relaxed and let Starfire stroke his nose and neck. In truth Mithrah did not really like this Other, but he was willing to accept this one in the herd. It was obvious that this was what his "mother" wanted, so he would accept this odd smelling creature as one of them. He signaled this by butting his head underneath Starfire's arm.

"What is he doing?" Starfire asked Raven.

Raven allowed herself to relax. "It means he likes you. He is thinking of you as a member of his "herd". It is actually a very good thing. It means I might not have to lock him back up." _Actually it just means he tolerates you Star, but we'll go with like for now._ Raven thought to herself.

Mithrah did the same thing when Beast Boy approached him. Mithrah liked this Other a bit more than the first one. This Other smelled of nature and the wild. Mithrah actually liked this one.

Robin, however, smelled different that the other two. This Other smelled like power and authority, and Mithrah was fine with that. If this one was herd leader than that was fine by Mithrah. He signaled this "bowing" with his front feet in front of Robin. Robin did not need to be told that this was the night horse equivalent of a salute to the boss.

It was then that the second shadow was cast over the evening. As Cyborg approached Mithrah the night horse suddenly drew his head up, lifted his lips to show his fangs and made a strange noise that sounded like a combination of a snort and a growl.

"Cyborg, back off!" Raven said "he doesn't like-"

Mithrah lunged for Cyborg with a strange guttural roar. It was not this Other's smell that drove the night horse wild, nor was it the steel covering the Other wore. It was the hum emanating from the Other that made Mithrah angry. It was an annoying hum, and terrible hum, and Mithrah did not like it.

Mithrah would have jumped on Cyborg and savaged him, if Raven had not literally put herself in between the two. She grabbed the wild night horse's horns in both hands and started shouting at him. No one understood what she was saying. It sounded to Robin like a command that you would give a dog, like "down boy" or something like that. At first Robin was afraid that the animal was going to simply trample Raven to get at Cyborg, but whatever she was saying must have done the trick. Mithrah settled down, but he kept looking over at a flabbergasted Cyborg and snorting.

"I don't understand." Cyborg said "I usually get along great with animals. Heck, I hang out with B.B. all the time! What do you think is his problem?"

"It's probably that hum." Raven said without thinking, and instantly regretted those words.

"Hum? What hum? I don't have a hum! My equipment is all highly advanced!" Cyborg shouted.

"Actually all technology gives off a hum for magical people and creatures," Raven said, feeling like a fool "You people just don't listen to it."

"Raven if I had a hum…"

"It's not something you hear." Raven cut Cyborg off "it's something you feel. And it is not just you, Cyborg. This tower, the city, the air itself all gives off a technological hum. You live with it all your lives so you don't notice it, but it is there. I can live with it, but Mithrah is not used to it. Give him some time and maybe-"

"And let him tear of my arm!"

"What would you have me do with him, Cyborg?" Raven said coldly "get rid of him? How precisely? He will not accept any owner other than me. Trust me, I know. So what other solution is there?"

They all knew what other solution there could be, but no one wanted to mention it.

Cyborg sighed. He was starting to dislike Mithrah almost as much as Mithrah disliked him. However, it was Raven's birthday, and he did not want to spoil it for her by making a fuss over her horse.

_Heck, if I can win her over I can win her horse over. Even if I do "hum"._

"Sorry Raven." Cyborg said "I'm sure he'll get used to me."

"In the meantime just don't press him." Raven said. "I think I can keep him from actively attacking you, but I won't guarantee he won't try to take a bite if you get to close."

A long awkward silence ensued. After two or three minutes, Robin cleared his throat.

"Well, if that is settled than we should get back to the party."

Raven blinked. She assumed that the party was over, but apparently it was not.

"There's more?" she said.

Robin grinned again "You know that big museum downtown?"

Raven nodded.

"Well, I noticed that they were having a special display on magical items and customs this week. I thought it might be something that you would like to see, Raven. I even bought the tickets ahead of time."

_Magical items my butt._ Raven thought _Probably just a bunch of meteor rocks that some fools thought magical and started worshiping. Still, it might be interesting._

And that was how Raven and the Titans ended up in a cataclysmic battle between the forces of good and evil; an adventure involving dragons, monsters, inner dimensional worms, omnipotent semi evil foxes, and a green eyed woman with way too much affection for a pair of axes. With one single museum visit their lives were changed forever.

Funny how these things happen.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

Necronomicon

The museum in question was a large building right in the middle of downtown. It was one of those buildings whose architecture tried to bring great age to mind, even though the thing was not really as old as say, the Parthenon (or even the White House, come to think of it). It was not a place that the Teen Titans usually went to, unless someone was robbing it. However, today was special.

Just as Raven predicted there were very few "real" magical things on display. However, some of the things on display were interesting to see, if only for comedic value.

"Look!" Beast Boy bellowed far too loudly "Shrunken heads!"

"Oh yes," Raven muttered sarcastically "Little dry heads have _tons_ of magical applications. Kind of like the way video games teach hand-eye coordination."

This completely flew over Beast Boy's head, if he even heard it at all. He was too busy ogling at the gruesome things under the display case with total fascination.

"So I guess nothing here is really magical, huh?" Robin said, looking at Raven in an attempt to gauge her reaction.

"Nope, most magical items got destroyed or lost in the Purging." Raven replied.

"The what?" Cyborg looked at Raven curiously.

"Kind of like the Salem witch trials, only it happened about five hundred years earlier. And actual magic was involved, not teenage girls with a desperate need for attention."

"So…it was some kind of magic war?" Cyborg asked, who really had not been paying attention in school they day they covered the early days of America.

"No," Raven replied "It was a bunch of religious nuts trying to drive off the magic users of the world. Why do you think there aren't many of us around?"

Now that Cyborg thought about it there really were only a few people he knew who actually used magic. There was Raven, Jinx, Malchior, Mumbo Jumbo and…and he really couldn't think of anyone else.

"Do you mean most of them were killed?" Cyborg asked, not really comfortable with the discussion but still dying of curiosity.

"No, they created Azarath. And no, I will not go into details on this particular subject right now." Raven growled.

"But-"

"Maybe when we are not in a museum with people around, but not right now." The finality stressed in the word "now" made it perfectly clear to the rest of the Titans that the subject was closed.

Cyborg was smart enough to take the hint, but he still pondered over Raven's words with a level of dislike that would have surprised the rest of the Titans. The truth was Cyborg really did not like magic that much. He found it creepy and unpredictable and a little obscene. Although he usually was the kind of guy who never hid anything from his friends he was smart enough not to share this opinion of magic with Raven, or to let it show that much. He might not like magic that much, but he liked Raven herself, and he did not want to hurt her by insulting her powers, or suggesting that it was somehow unnatural. As far as he was concerned she had enough trouble with being the daughter of a huge red demon. She didn't need one of her friends acting weird about her magic.

Although the museum lacked very much in magical items, Raven still enjoyed herself, and to her surprise the others seemed to be having a good time as well. They generally were not a group that was big on learning experiences, except maybe Starfire who wanted to know everything about Earth. Raven had to admit, at least to herself, that she was having fun.

Until she spotted the book. The thing darn near spoiled the entire evening, and was the cause of the trouble to come. It sat in a case in a nice dark corner; in fact it was almost invisible from where it was. But Raven managed to spot it, and the sight of it turned her blood to ice water.

"No," she muttered, still somewhat maintaining her outward calm, even though her insides were clinching in horror. "That can't be real. They were supposed to be destroyed!"

"Huh? What was destroyed?" Robin asked. He had been distracted for a moment, and had only caught the last part of Raven's sentence.

Raven walked up to the display case and stared at the offending object. She stared for a long time before growling "It is real. Of all the things in this place to be genuine why does it have to be this?"

"Hey, Raven you found a book!" Beast Boy said gleefully as he strolled over. "Trust you to find the one ancient book in the entire exhibit!"

"You moron!" Raven snarled "Do any of you have any idea what this _thing_ is?"

"Err, a moldy old book like the tens of thousands of moldy old books you already own?" Cyborg asked, honestly puzzled by Raven's reaction.

"It's the Necronomicon." Raven said, still glaring at the book with a gaze that would have set steel ablaze if the clique about killing with a look were true.

"Necky-what?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's evil." Raven said "the most evil book ever written."

"How can a book be evil?" Starfire asked, puzzled "a book is not a living thing. Or do you mean that it has an evil creature like the Malchior dragon inside it?"

"That is not what I mean" Raven said deliberately "The Necronomicon contains the darkest of dark magic inside it. The most evil spells, the most terrible curses in the world are all explained in this _thing_. Everyone who had ever owned a copy of this _thing_ have died really nasty deaths. These things were supposed to be destroyed by the same people who raised me, but they must have missed one." She turned and looked at Robin with a strangely obsessive look in her eyes. "We have got to destroy this thing."

"But Raven, it's museum property. We can't just take and destroy it!"

"Did you not hear me? This thing is evil. If it isn't destroyed bad things could happen."

"Raven, how long do you think this book has been here? For all we know it could have been sitting there for years not causing any harm." Robin said, not wanting to add what he was really thinking which was: _it's just a book, it can't hurt anyone!_

Raven argued. She argued very strongly and very persistently. Although she did not disrupt her dignity by actually shouting at the others she did make it perfectly clear from her voice tone that she was not going to let this book go by unburned. Eventually, Robin decided to humor her, even if he thought she was being slightly ridiculous.

"Okay, look" Robin said "I'll go talk to the museum owner about surrendering it to us. But you have to promise me not to do anything even slightly illegal to the thing until I'm done. Alright Raven?"

"Alright." Raven said, and she looked a bit less agitated now that someone was doing something about the book, even though every instinct she had was bellowing at her to blow the book to little bits right here and now.

"Just wait here for a second. I might be a while." Robin said as he set off to find the owner, feeling a bit like the worlds most idiotic superhero.

The feeling of idiocy only grew when he confronted the museum owner, who refused point blank to surrender the book. He was one of those large, lazy looking guys who practically turned the air into an oil field just by walking around, and Robin disliked him on sight.

"It's one of a kind! The only English translation of the Necronomicon still in print! The others were all destroyed! And you want to take it away." The man complained as he glared a Robin with the gaze of one who did not like superheroes that much as a rule.

Robin was especially glad that he had not mentioned the fact that Raven wanted the book destroyed; he had only said that they wanted it.

"It's in the interest of city security," Robin tried to explain "one of my teammates thinks that it could be dangerous. I-"

"This 'teammate' wouldn't happen to be that Goth girl I've seen on the news is she?" Sir Oil-a-lot said with a sneer "Frankly I don't believe that Goth business should be encouraged, even by 'superheroes'. It is not healthy."

Robin resisted the sudden urge to punch this guy. Raven was a real magic user, not some strange girl with dark tastes! But Robin knew that losing his cool would not help the situation at all. He realized that, sort of resorting to thievery, there was really only one way he was going to get his hands on that dratted book. It would mean having to borrow money from Batman, but Robin thought he could get his old mentor to help, as long as it wasn't too much.

"How much will you take for it?" Robin asked.

"It's rare, it's priceless! Five million dollars."

_Oh, this is going to be fun!_ Robin thought sarcastically as he began bargaining. It took a long time, as the museum owner was one of those hard bargainers who hate to lose. Eventually, however, Robin managed to talk the guy down. If you considered half a million as "down".

_Bruce is going to hate me for asking for that much cash on such short notice, but…_

"And you are not getting it until I see that cash, and I won't take a check or a credit card." The owner continued.

_DRAT!_ Robin thought.

"I'll be back with the cash." Robin said, realizing that he was going to have to make a call from Titan's Tower to his old mentor.

The museum owner said nothing; he just grunted at Robin and walked away.

Robin went back to where the others were waiting for him, feeling angry and put out. Not just by the owner's condescending and rude attitude, but by the whole situation in general. He knew that it was not wise to take Raven lightly, especially when it came to magic. But honestly! An evil book?

"Well? What happened?" Beast Boy asked curiously.

"We won't be able to get it right now. The owner is asking for an enormous amount of money for the thing because it is so rare. But give me some time and I think I can get it." Robin said.

"How long?" Raven asked with a tense look.

"Not sure, but don't worry, I'll get it."

"Dude! How much does he want?!" Beast Boy asked.

"You really do not want to know."

Raven gave the book one last evil look, as if she wanted to set it on fire right then and there with no concern for the consequences. But to the others infinite relief she turned and started walking away. One by one the others followed her. Clearly this little visit was over.

But Robin wanted one more look at that book. He leaned over the glass case and stared at the thing. It was lying open on its stand (but hadn't it been closed before? Robin thought that must be his imagination). He tried to read it, but the shadows obscured all but two lines.

That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange aeons even death may die.

_What in the world does that mean?_ Robin thought. It sounded like nonsense. After all, if you were dead you were dead and if you were alive you were alive. Things like zombies and vampires only happened in cheap horror movies, and Beast Boy's imagination.

_But Robin_ a little voice inside him said _you hang out with a girl who can emit scary black energy, make monsters with her mind, cast spells, and turn her soul into a giant black bird! How do you know that things like the living dead do not exist?_

For a moment he was sure he sensed someone behind him. That someone whispered this nice little cryptic phrase in his ear:

"_Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."_

_Okay, _Robin thought _I don't think I even want to know if that was real or not! Let me out of here!_

Quickly, but not so quickly that it looked like he was running, Robin rejoined his friends as they headed for the parked T-Car awaiting them in the parking lot. Now that he was back in the sunshine Robin easily pushed the memory of the voice out of his head. His mind went back to more important matters, one of which was a plan to get Raven back into a relatively happy mood and the other was where exactly he was going to take Starfire for their date this Saturday.

No one noticed the Black Fox as she appeared next to the evil book on its stand in the museum. Deftly she closed it back to its original position with a nasty, cruel little smile on her half-fox half human face.

"This is going to be great!" She said "Just wait until tomorrow!"

Her laughter echoed throughout the building, but although there were still plenty of people around no one saw or heard a thing.

* * *

In a near desperate bid to make sure Raven did not end this day in an evil book induced depression, Beast Boy immediately devised a plan to get her mind off the museum. He offered to help Raven take care of Mithrah, who needed his daily grooming. Raven did not quite trust him enough to actually let Beast Boy touch her temperamental animal, but she did let him help by handing her the various brushes and other objects associated with the care of night horses. As it turned out night horses were groomed very much like regular horses, except for two extra for the wings and the horns. While this was going on Beast Boy pelted Raven with every question he could think of concerning night horses, and Raven was surprisingly open with him. The other Titans quickly realized that they had finally found a subject that Raven was willing to talk about at length, and Beast Boy was more than happy to listen to her talk. Eventually his little plan worked and Raven had put the museum incident in the back of her mind, at least for a moment.

The sun started its way down into west, and Raven decided to go to bed early. She was tired and ready to sleep. She said good night to her friends, with much assurances that yes she did have a good time today. Mithrah followed her to her room, but point blank refused to return to his closet. Instead he plopped down at the end of Raven's bed. He gave her a meaningful look. _I am staying here_ that look said _and there is nothing you can do to budge me!_

Raven was more than happy to let him stay there. It would be nice to have him sleep near her like he did in the old days. Tired and yawning, she literally collapsed in her bed and immediately started snoring.

That was the evening the first of the dreams started:

**She was standing in a dark and cold stone room, like the room of a castle. There were no doors, no windows, but somehow there was a little bit of light coming from somewhere, just enough to cast the appropriate amount of creepy shadows against the thick walls.**

**She noticed that there were symbols on the wall, but it was too dark to read them. She choose one and squinted at it, trying to make it out, when it exploded with bright green light. Now she could make it out, and it what it said scared her badly. It was not what it said but the language it was in. She only knew a few words in First Draconic, but she could read this. It was a single word: Time.**

**Another one exploded, but this one with red light. It was in the same tongue as the first one, but this time the word was War.**

**She stared at the symbols, her mind not wanting to admit to what she was seeing. If this was what she thought it was-**

**The two lights started swirling and in their depths Raven was sure that she could see two pairs of eyes, one pair red and one green. Like the lights in which they dwelled.**

**And she was certain that they were looking right at her. **

**She heard a terrible roaring, a familiar roar. The roar of a dragon. What was worse, she was pretty sure it was coming from her. **

**She looked down at herself, but what she saw was not her familiar body. She had sharp silver claws and dark navy blue scales. For whatever reason, she was a dragon.**

**She roared again in panic and the walls closed in. She tried to breath, but she drowning! She struggled to reach the surface of the cold dark water that surrounded her but it was impossible. Her wings strained to fly in this unfamiliar environment, but it was useless. She was going down, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.**

* * *

Robin walked into the ops room the next morning and found a very grumpy, very sleepy looking Raven drinking her favorite herbal tea while glaring at an open book with a thunderous expression.

_Oh no, what's wrong now!?_ Robin could tell that something was upsetting Raven. Sometimes he thought he could mentally pick up her feelings, probably a result of when she had been inside his mind. Today was one of those days, and what he was picking up was anger mixed with a bit of fear. It wasn't like Raven to look quite that angry, normally she just looked slightly annoyed. And he had thought that yesterday had gone so well! She was even wearing that locket they had given her! Why was she suddenly so upset?

Just as he was steeling himself to ask Raven about what was bothering her, the others came in talking loudly and happily. Raven shot the group a grouchy look then went back to glaring at her book.

"Good morning, Raven!" Beast Boy said cheerily, ignoring his teammates Grinchlike mood "Do you sleep well last night?"

"No." she growled, hoping that everyone would just leave her alone today.

This was not going to happen.

"Why not?" Robin said, glad the conversation had gone toward the basic direction of what might be bothering Raven. Not to mention glad that he had not been the one to approach the subject. He could recognize a woman in a dangerous mood when he saw one.

"Nightmare." Raven growled, ninety percent of her attention still focused on the book.

"Oh no! What kind of nightmares!" Starfire asked "Perhaps you would like to her the Tameranian folk song of good dreams? That always helps me when I-"

Raven finally looked up "Does it cover dreams from the First Dragons?"

"No," Starfire admitted, then"What is a first dragon?"

Finally realizing that she was not going to get any research done at all with this group hovering over her, Raven put the book down and stared at her friends, all of whom were looking at her with mixed concern and curiosity to varying degrees.

"It is a long story-"

"Tell us!" the others said, all at the same time with eager looks on their faces.

Raven sighed, and then started talking.

"You have to understand that this is kind of a creation myth that my people tell. You have to listen to it from the beginning in order to understand what the First Dragons were, and before anyone asks: no they are not like Malchior.

My people say that the First Dragons were born at the same moment that the universe itself was created. They were supposedly the wisest and greatest race of dragons that ever lived. They were the closest to beings of pure good that any mortal race has ever aspired to. They were experts in both magic and technology and could combine both to-"

"What?" Cyborg interrupted, the concept of combining magic and tech blowing his mind.

"Please don't interrupt." Raven asked with a glare "This story is kind of important to my people. Well, anyway, people say that the First Dragons were so advanced that they could literally travel throughout the dimensions within the blink of an eye. But, while the First Dragons were a force for good, there was naturally another force out there. Most refer to them as the Outer Gods, but no one really knows what they really are. At least no one I know about. My people really do not like to talk about them that much. I think they are a bit afraid of them, and they probably have good reason to be afraid."

"Are they as bad as Trigon?" Robin asked, forgetting that Raven didn't want to be interrupted, but this time she did not seem to mind. Maybe because Robin's question was actually somewhat intelligent.

"Worse," Raven said "It wasn't so much as they wanted to conquer the galaxy or anything like that, it was just that they didn't care who or what they hurt. To them mortals are like ants. No one really notices if they accidentally step on a bug while they are walking along, even though it would be important to the bug. The First Dragons, however, liked mortals and didn't want them to be hurt. Eventually the First Dragons and the Outer Gods ended up in a war. But no matter how much the fought, no matter how badly they hurt the Outer Gods, the Outer Gods simply did not die. In fact, many say that the Outer Gods could not die, because they are not mortal. The First Dragons died by the thousands, and it looked like the entire race would be wiped out. In the end the First Dragons realized that they could not defeat the Outer Gods, so instead seven of them created a spell which would seal up the Outer Gods for what they hoped was for all eternity. They succeeded, and the Outer Gods were banished from reality itself.

For a while the multiverse ticked along just fine, but then the first humans appeared. At first the Dragons loved humans. They thought that humans were the greatest of the lesser lived species that ever existed. The First Dragons made it there mission in life to teach and guide the humans. At first the humans and Dragons got along fine, but then something happened. Some believe that the Outer Gods somehow reached out from their prison and tainted the humans, others say that the humans just got greedy, in fact there are as much theories as to why it happened as there are stars in the sky. In the end I suppose it does not really matter, but what happened was the humans started killing the First Dragons. In fact the humans nearly finished the job the Outer Gods started"

"But if the First Dragons were so powerful, then why did they let themselves be slaughtered?" Beast Boy asked quietly.

"If you suddenly saw a little kid run up to you waving a knife with obvious intent to kill, would you fight him or just stand there dumbfounded?"

"Err, stand there dumbfounded?" Beast Boy said.

"Exactly, to the First Dragons the humans were just little children. Also they could not bear to fight the creatures that they had once loved with all their hearts. For a while the First Dragons did not know what to do. Eventually they decided that the best thing to do would be to leave all human inhabited worlds entirely. But then they discovered something disturbing. They heard a prophecy that said that one day the Outer Gods would try to break free from their prison and back to reality. If all of the Dragons left then the mulitiverse itself could be destroyed. But if they stayed then the Dragons could still be hunted to extinction. They also knew that they could just kill all humans and remove the threat, but they did not want to do that, because they still loved humans even though humans now hated them. The seven Dragons who first locked the Outer Gods away came up with a creative solution. They were getting old, and could not prevent themselves from dieing, but they had a way to preserve their power in the hopes that when and if the Outer Gods returned there would be someone there capable of fighting them. I'm not sure how to explain this, but I'll try. They used a spell to literally preserve their memories and powers. When they died they left behind a little bit of their souls on various worlds. If the right human or similar mortal found this power then the soul and power of a First Dragon would be given to them. This people are called the Dragonborn and they are supposed to be created when the time of the Outer Gods return is close. The First Dragons hoped that these people would have the power to reseal the Outer Gods if they were ever freed. In this way the rest of the First Dragon race was able to flee the human inhabited worlds and live in relative peace. No one knows the exact location of the remaining First Dragons, but I've heard the place referred to as the World of Dreams, and that you cannot get there without the First Dragons letting you in."

"So what does all of this have to do with your dream?" Robin asked.

Raven told them about her dream, but this only caused the others more confusion.

"The two symbols I saw," she said, trying to get them to understand "Were the names and colors of two of the seven First Dragons who preserved their powers, Tiamatiania the Dragon of Time and Yoksolalthee the Dragon of War. I couldn't see the other symbols, but I bet that they were the names of the other five."

"So, what a minute." Beast Boy said "If you were a dragon during this dream…Raven! Do you think that you could be one of these Dragonborn people?"

_When in the world did you get so darned perceptive?_ Raven thought. Aloud she said "I have no idea, but I would tend to doubt it."

"Why, of all the people I would pick to be a universe saving dragon it would be you!" Beast Boy said.

"I'm the daughter of a demon; there is no way a First Dragon would want to inhabit my body." Raven said, not trying to sound as disappointed as she felt.

"Raven-"Robin started, but he was interrupted by the clanging of the Towers alarm bells. Robin mentally cursed the alarm. He looked at the front display screen which would show them the scene of the crime taking place. His heart sank when he saw that the place being robbed was the same museum that they had visited the other day.

Ignoring this little fact in the hopes that Raven's dream had distracted her from a certain book, Robin bellowed his trademark "Titans go!" and ran for the door, the others at his heels.

All except Raven. She had not forgotten the book at all, and she was getting a very bad feeling. She stared at the screen for a moment, then simply flew out of the window without preamble. She was certain that this had something to do with that book, and she was determined to make sure that it did not fall into the wrong hands.

She did not know that the Black Fox was close. Despite her extra senses she could not pick up the Black Fox at all. The Black Fox herself watched Raven with far too much interest, a savage little look on her face.

* * *

An Authors note: The little couplet that Robin read in the book and the ensuing voice he heard both came from the H.P. Lovecraft story _The Call of Cthulhu_ and the Necronomicon and the Outer Gods were also created by him (they pop up in just about everything he ever wrote). The Black Fox, the First Dragons, and everything relating to the Dragonborn are all my creations and are originals. The little story about the First Dragons is mine as well, even though it does involve Lovecraft's critters. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

Spiders' Web

Raven flew a few feet above the T-Car and the R-cycle, kind of staying with the team, but not really noticing the fact that they were there. Her mind was fixed, almost obsessively, on the book. Robin felt her worry and obsession, and did not like it all. He had never seen her act like this before and it disturbed him greatly.

The Black Fox also followed the Titans progress across Jump City, and it amused her greatly. She could see the possibilities laid out before her, and she knew exactly how she could influence the circumstances around these events to get the result she wanted.

And all it would take was a tiny little nail.

Most semi-omnipotent beings only understood how to do big things, like vaporize a planet or stop a sun. The Black Fox, however, loved influencing lives through tiny little events that would end up spiraling neatly out of control. It was so much easier, much more fun to watch and far more subtle. And she always got what she wanted in the end. Today would be no different. The Fox made a single gesture and a very sharp nail magically appeared under the front tire of Robin's motorcycle. It happened so fast that the Titans barely knew what was happening, but it went something like this:

Robin's beloved bike flipped over then skidded along the ground. Fortunately Robin managed to leap out of the way and avoided braining himself on the pavement.

The bike crashed into the front of the T-Car, which immediately preformed three quite appealing little ballerina like turns in midair before coming to land on a fire hydrant upside down, both Beast Boy and Cyborg were in the car at the time of this collision, but neither was badly hurt (Beast Boy because he had the foresight to turn into a turtle and duck into his shell before the big crunch. Cyborg was just plain durable).

Starfire, who had been behind Raven, swooped down to check on Robin, not noticing the fact that the other female Titan was still flying her way toward the museum, apparently oblivious to the fact that there had just been a crash involving her friends right below her in plain view.

After checking to make sure that Robin was alright (and he was perfectly fine) Starfire soared over to the ominously smoking T-Car and began helping Cyborg and Beast Boy out. Beast Boy came out easily, but Cyborg's extraction including much sweating, grunting, pulling, some mild grumbling and some not so mild swearing. All this took about twenty minutes. Of course, after he was out Cyborg's first concern was for his car.

"Oh my poor baby!" he moaned and stroked the car like it really was a fallen child. "My sweet little baby! Don't worry honey, I'll fix ya up!" He went along on this tangent for ten more minutes.

Robin looked around and realized that someone was missing from this happy little scene.

"Raven? Hey! Where is she?"

Cyborg finally looked up from his car and looked around "Where did she go? Wasn't she just here?" He asked, not realizing that she had continued flying when the rest of them had an accident.

Robin tried to contact her on the communicator, but the thing gave him nothing but static. He had a bad feeling that he knew exactly where she was, and he did not like the idea at all.

"We have to get to the museum, now." He said, but something inside told him that he was somehow to late.

* * *

It was not that Raven had purposely left the others stranded on the side of road; in fact she was almost positive that they had been behind her the entire time (perhaps this was yet more of the Black Fox's interference). She was completely taken aback when she landed in front of the museum, turned around and saw nobody following her. She assumed that she had simply flown too fast for them to keep up. Still, it was probably best to check up on them.

She tried her own communicator, but was met with the same static that Robin would encounter. She was disturbed by this, but thought that it was simply a mechanical malfunction. She turned and looked at the museum.

Normally she would have waited for the others to catch up, but her obsession with the book inside that museum was far too strong. She felt an almost compulsive need to get rid of it, and the feeling simply would not let her rest. She needed to get rid of that book, or at least make sure that it did not fall into the wrong hands. So instead of doing the prudent thing and waiting for her team, Raven entered the building ready to do battle with whoever was attacking her city this time.

And if a certain book was damaged in the fight, then that was just too bad.

The place was completely deserted. There were no civilians fleeing in terror, no police running around trying to hold off whoever until the city superheroes arrived, no reporters trying to find the point where they were somewhat out of danger but still able to get the story and footage. The silence disturbed Raven, but she did not let this stop her.

Finally she arrived in the exhibit that contained the book and her opponent along with it. His back was facing her and he was staring right at the Necronomicon with obvious intent to steal. He wore black robes that Raven found very familiar. They were traditional wizard robes, and the fact that he practically stank of magical power let Raven know exactly what this man was. He was a magic user just like her.

Perhaps he sensed her presence, because he turned away from his goal and looked at Raven with one of the stoniest and emotionless faces she had ever seen (and wizards were experts in stony emotionless faces). He had her beat in the cold and stoic area hands down, and Raven knew it too. There was absolutely no evidence of human feeling in his eyes, no compassion, no anger, not even greed. But that was not what disturbed her. She was pretty sure she had heard descriptions of this man before, and what she had heard of him was not good at all.

After a few minutes of staring at each other, Raven broke the silence.

"You are Sumal Kijak, aren't you?" Raven asked.

The man nodded, still expressionless "You are a high priestess of Azar, aren't you? What is one of your kind doing here?"

"Stopping you." Raven said.

"Your kind are pacifists, you do not fight." Sumal replied matter-of-factly.

"I am of the Makhar sect."

"There is only one Makhar left, and he is a Minotaur, not a little half-breed girl."

Raven bristled. It had been a long time since she had heard that particular insult, but even after all this time it still stung. In fact it stung worse than any of the other Titans would have guessed if they had been there. But then they didn't know that this was a racist term on Azarath.

Even though she was irked Raven still retorted as if the insult had not bothered her. "Two. I am Arucules last and only student. Your information is out of date." Raven said.

"Well then, Halfblood, lets see how well the cow trained you."

Swiftly he pulled out a classic wizard's wand from somewhere and gestured with it. A broad beam of green light erupted from the stick and streaked toward Raven, who dodged it. She countered with some black bolts of energy, which Sumal blocked by holding up a ring with a red jewel. A red shield emerged from the ring and stopped Raven's bolts cold. She did not let up, however, and with a few blows she managed to break thru the shield. Now it was Sumal's turn to dodge. It went on like this for several minutes, Raven throwing black energy at Sumal and him countering with both ring and wand.

Although Raven's emotions were mostly in control, she could still feel her Rage clamoring to get out. _How dare he use that term! Half-breed!_ This part of her roared. _No other magical opponent has been that crude! I've fought Jinx hundreds of times. She knows perfectly well what I am and has never called be half-breed! Mumbo knows it too and he has never said it either. Malchior betrayed me, but he never this cruel with words! What makes this jerk think he has the right to call me that! And Arucules! How dare he call my old mentor a COW!_ Raven tried to ignore the anger welling up inside her, but it was hard, almost as hard as it had been that time with Dr. Light.

It did not take long, however, for Raven to realize that in this contest she was outmatched. This man was a very good mage, and he obviously had more experience than her. He was also surprisingly versatile. No matter what strategy she tried he always found a way to counter it. It dawned on Raven that she might not be able to win this without her friends, but they were nowhere in sight. Still she did not back down. She knew she could not win this now, but she was confident that she could hold Sumal off until her friends arrived.

Eventually there was a break in the fighting, and for a while the two mages stared at each other while the dust cleared. Raven was panting, it was quiet and soft, but she was still more drained than she had ever been in a magic battle. Sumal, however, had not even broken a sweat. He was giving her an odd look, though. It had changed from one of indifference to one of mild curiosity, the kind that bug collectors had for an insect that had a first looked common but upon closer inspection ended up being a rare variety. Raven did not like this look any better than she had liked the first one.

"Your powers are…surprisingly powerful." Sumal finally said.

The look he was giving her combined with this statement somehow made Raven very nervous, still if she could get him talking like normal villains talked…

"Is it true that you steal the powers of others?" She asked, desperate for a topic that she thought might get him bragging. She expected a long tirade about the mages he had stolen from or maybe even one of those My-Horrible-Childhood-and-How-I-Became-a-Villain-stories that these people seemed so fond of.

"Yes," Sumal said "And I think I like yours. I'll take it."

Raven glared at him. With these words her plans to delay him flew out the window. Deep inside she hated her dark powers almost as much as the father who had given them to her. She saw her power as a burden and secretly wished that she had not been born with it. A small part of her would have been glad to see her power gone, but most of her rebelled against the notion. Her power was a part of her, even if she hated it, and she was not going to give it up so easily.

"You want it that badly…" Raven said, and formed her dark energy around her hands in the shape of bird claws. She lunged for Sumal, hoping to take him by surprise.

Swiftly Sumal pulled out something long from his cloak, and Raven recognized it as a plastic gun. She had just enough time to wonder what in the world he planned to do with a toy when he pulled the trigger. A broad grey beam washed over Raven and pushed her backwards.

_Stolen powers!_ She thought as she sailed backwards _He must store them in different items! Why didn't I think of that beforehand?_

Raven slammed into a display case of antique vases, one of which fell and smacked her on the head. She grunted in pain, and slid to the ground completely dazed.

She heard Sumal walking toward her, but she could not seem to see well, for some reason black spots kept dancing in front of her eyes, making it hard to concentrate. She heard him mutter something, but she could not make it out. Then she heard him walk back in the direction of the book. Was he changing his mind about stealing her power?

"Riki," She heard him say "We are taking her with us. Bring her."

So much for that thought.

Raven heard a scratching sound on the wall to the right of her. She looked over and saw the biggest spider she had ever seen. It was as big as a large dog, and it was coming toward her.

_Familiar_, her foggy brain managed to recall. _Mind of on creature bonded to another. Now where did he get one of those? Darn it, I hate familiars! Oh poor old Zip…Raven! Now is not the time to think of him! Got to get up. _

She tried to get up, whether to flee or fight she still was not sure, but her legs did not seem to be working right. She settled for trying to slide away. The spider had a terribly predatory look about it, and she suddenly felt like a mouse being stalked by a cat. She tried a blast of dark energy, but was surprised when she found a block over her mind. It prevented her from using her power.

_Sumal must have cast some spell on me when I was dazed by that stupid vase_ Raven thought.Her hand found a shard of glass from the display case. She gripped it, even though it was a poor weapon at best. But it was better than nothing.

Riki the spider familiar lunged, and Raven stabbed at the monster with her glass shard. The creature reared as the glass cut into it, but the wound was shallow and did not cause much damage. Raven still slashed, even though it was pretty useless. Riki hissed at Raven and lunged again, and this time the spider's fangs pierced Raven's leg. The spider then backed away from its victim.

Raven started feeling woozy and tired. The spider's venom must have been some sort of tranquilizer, and Raven was succumbing to it quickly. The glass shard fell out of her hands as her vision became blurrier and blurrier.

Recognizing the fact that Raven was helpless now, Riki approached the fallen Titan and started spinning a cocoon. Raven could see the creature covering her legs with sticky webbing, but she could no longer move at all, and she was starting to lose consciousness.

Her last thought was _Where in the WORLD ARE MY FRIENDS!_ And then she slipped into the darkness and knew no more.

* * *

Beast Boy gently dropped Cyborg from his pterodactyl claws at the entrance of the museum. He shifted to a dog form and started sniffing around for Raven. He picked up her scent right away. She had a very distinct odor (although he had just enough self preservation not to tell her about her odor, even he was not that dumb) it was strange, it didn't smell like a normal human. Most humans kind of smelled a bit apelike, maybe because they are related to apes, but Raven smelled like a completely different animal. Beast Boy was not quite sure what, but it was an interesting smell. It was kind of…nice. But of course he would never tell Raven that! That would have been suicide.

For some reason her smell made him feel…odd. Very odd. This had been happing a lot lately, and he couldn't quite explain it. It felt a bit like what he once felt for Terra, but very different at the same time. He couldn't explain how it was different, just that it was different, and much more powerful.

"She here?" Robin asked as he landed with Starfire, she had carried her boyfriend like Beast Boy had carried Cyborg.

"No doubt about it." Beast Boy said as he shifted back to human form. "I can still smell her in the air."

Robin nodded and entered the museum without a word. Beast Boy followed closely. Robin looked worried, but Beast Boy was not. After all, this was Raven! Nothing could hurt her. She was tough and brave and smart. She probably already had the criminal in tow. Still, something felt wrong here. Something Beast Boy just could not place. He was smelling something else here, but in his human form he could not quite make it out.

He was just about to shift into something with a better nose when he spotted Raven laying on the ground not ten feet away. She was already halfway incased in webbing and still unconscious. Sitting on top of her, still weaving away, was Riki the giant spider. Sumal Kijak was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly filled with inexplicable anger, Beast Boy shifted to lion and lunged toward the spider with a roar. Of course in animal form he could not speak human, but he could talk animal.

"_Let her go!"_ he roared.

Riki reared on four of her six legs and waved the other two threateningly.

_"Come try and stop me, little green freak."_ She said.

Beast Boy sensed the others running up to stand beside him. In this form he could feel the others anger and rage. He was angry too, and ready to tear this monster apart for daring to hurt Raven.

"Titans, bring that monster down!" Robin bellowed.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Someone from behind them said mildly.

Beast Boy turned and saw someone step out of the shadows, literally step. He stank of magic and danger and cold, and he made Beast Boy's hackles rise in alarm. He had managed to conceal himself perfectly somehow, both sight and scent.

"Who are you? What have you done with Raven?" Robin bellowed.

"Are you an idiot? Isn't it obvious what I am doing? I am taking this book," Sumal held up that dratted Necky-whatever book "and the half-breed with me. Get out of my way and I will not hurt you."

"Not. Happening." Robin said through gritted teeth "TITANS GO!"

Beast Boy lunged at the man, hate and anger in his feline eyes. He was ready to use his lion's claws to tear this guy apart. No WAY was some magic user taking HIS Raven away from him.

_YOUR Raven?_ A small voice inside him whispered _Since when was she YOUR Raven?_

But now was not the time for soul searching. Beast Boy shoved the voice away angrily. There was more important things to do now, like removing this guy's head from his shoulders.

This time the mage didn't even try to use a stolen power. Instead he clapped his hands on either side of Beast Boy's head, before the shape shifter could disembowel him like a gutted fish. Pain, like a thousand needles digging into his skin, exploded over Beast Boy's entire body. It felt like a thousand bees were attacking him in tandem, or maybe a pack of insane nurses with hypodermic needles. He lost control over his beast form and involuntarily shifted back to a human.

The man dropped him and turned to face Cyborg, who had leaped up to give him a nice flying smack. Sumal pulled out his toy gun and blasted Cyborg. The grey light pushed Cyborg much farther than it had done with Raven. In fact it propelled Cyborg all the way through three walls, and then impaled him on the fossilized tail of a stegosaurus. However, since most of him was robot he was not killed. But he was stuck, and it would take a while to get him unstuck. For now he was out of the fight.

Beast Boy tried to get up, but his body still tingled, and he could not get his muscles to obey him.

Starfire and Robin had not attacked Sumal, rather the young alien had made a dive for the spider. She was desperate to free her good friend. She dared not use starbolts for fear of hitting Raven. She aimed a punch at the loathsome creature before her.

This was a mistake. Riki jumped up as Starfire's fist went toward her. The monster latched onto Starfire's arm and scurried up toward her neck. Starfire shrieked in terror as Riki sank sharp fangs into her neck and drained their venom into her. If anything it worked on Starfire better than it had on Raven. She fell to the ground, completely out before she had even hit the concrete.

Almost instantly thoughts and concerns for Raven were eclipsed by concern for Starfire in Robin's mind. Thinking that she had been badly poised, maybe even killed, Robin rushed to his girlfriends side. He had no way of knowing that the venom was harmless, so he feared that Starfire was dying from poison.

Riki ignored him. She went back to Raven and started dragging the unconscious girl over to her master. Sumal was muttering something yet again, and a swirling vortex of light appeared before him. It was obviously some sort of portal, and he was preparing to take himself, his pet and his prisoner away.

Beast Boy shouted at himself to get up, and surprisingly he managed to. As Riki and Raven disappeared through the portal Sumal felt something grab him and pull him back. It was Beast Boy, in the form of a crocodile. The young man had thought that something with thick skin would be able to resist that odd power.

Sumal gave Beast Boy a contemptuous look and touched his head. Instantly Beast Boy felt pain flood through him just as strong as before, but he would not let go. He could not let go. Raven was depending on him. He was not going to let her down.

Riki turned as if to help her master and stared with her eight bulging red eyes. She knew she was supposed to take the girl, but her master was in danger. She did not know what to do so she just stood there.

_Just hang on Beast Boy; just hold on a bit longer. _Beast Boy mentally coached himself._ Robin will probably be over here to help any second now. Yep, any second. OH COME ON DUDE! GET YOUR SKINNY BUTT OVER HERE AND HELP ME! STOP FUSSING OVER YOUR GIRLFRIEND AND HELP! Hey! What is creepy doing?_

"Creepy" had pulled out what looked like a monocle. One of those little lenses things that old time British people used. Just as Beast Boy wondered what in the world he was doing with that thing the man had placed it over his eye. Beast Boy looked and saw one of those swirl things a bit like the kind Mad Mod used.

_Oh no! Not this time! I am NOT going to fail Raven!_

"Let go." Sumal said, and the voice was very…commanding. Irresistible. Beast Boy wanted to let go. But he couldn't let go! Raven needed him! Raven…

"Let go."

Beast Boy let go.

Quickly Sumal leaped through his portal, as if knowing that Beast Boy would try to attack again. And he did, his mind screaming in rage and emotional pain, Beast Boy lunged again. But his jaws snapped at empty air as the portal consumed all three travelers and bore them to who knew where.

_NO!_ Beast Boys crocodile body thrashed in anger and despair. Crocodiles cannot scream, but the noise he was making was very similar to a scream.

"_NO! RAVEN! I LOST HER! NO NO NO NO NO NO!"_ Beast Boy gargled in crocodile, but no one understood him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four

Beast Boy and the Raging Hormone

It was a very dejected and sorry looking group of superheroes that arrived back at the tower thirty minutes later. Starfire was still unconscious, Robin looked angry (mostly at himself) and Beast Boy simply refused to look at anyone at all. Cyborg was also mad (not to mention the fact that he had a huge hole in his chest), but his wrath was all aimed a certain black robed wearing freak that had run off with one of his best friend, his…sister. And his car was wreaked too, that was making him mad as well. He would have to spend a lot of time repairing it. Who knew how long he would have to spend pounding out that huge dent on the hood-

Cyborg mentally smacked himself. What was he doing! Raven was captured by some manic (who knew what the sick old man was doing to her) and here he was thinking about some stupid car!

The living room seemed…wrong without Raven there. It wasn't that it was quieter or anything like that, Raven never made much noise, even when she was doing that odd floating mediation thing. It was just…wrong. It was missing something, and Cyborg suddenly realized what that was. It was a cranky looking empath who spent so much of her time by herself. Who would have known that someone so silent would have left such a void when missing?

Cyborg plopped down on the coach and sighed deeply. Darn, she had only been gone an hour or so and already he was missing her!

_Just wait tell I get my hands on that freak_ he thought _I'll show him a thing or two!_

"So what do we do now?" Cyborg asked Robin.

"First we have to get Star to the med bay, then-"

"Dude! Haven't you wasted enough time messing with her! She's fine; Cyborg scanned her and said so! What about Raven?" Beast Boy started yelling at Robin with a furious look on his face. Cyborg was stunned. The last time Beast Boy had yelled at their leader had been that incident with Adonis and the lab chemicals.

"We need to recover from that battle, Beast Boy!" Robin yelled back "Star is knocked out and Cyborg is damaged! Even if we knew where he took Raven, and we don't, we are in no condition to fight him. We need-"

"To find her! Who knows what he's doing to her!"

"How do we find her!? They vanished into thin air! What is your problem Beast Boy?"

"WHAT IS MY PROBLEM! What do you think! You abandoned her!"

"What!?" Robin said, more surprised at this statement than angry.

"Where were you when I was pulling on that wizard!? Nowhere! I needed you to help me! Raven needed you and where were you! Fussing over your girlfriend who didn't even need your help!"

Robin opened his mouth as if to answer, but Beast Boy didn't give him a chance.

"Stay here if you want, but I'm going to look for Raven." With that the green shape shifter stomped out the door. A few minutes later Cyborg and Robin saw a green eagle soaring in the direction of the city, looking for their missing friend.

A long silence descended upon the remaining conscious occupants of the tower. Cyborg couldn't help but be stunned by Beast Boy's behavior. Cyborg knew that Beast Boy and Raven had somehow managed to become good friends, despite the vast differences between the two. Had it somehow progressed into something more? And if it did, when did it happen?

Finally Robin broke the awkward silence "I'm taking Star to the med lab, unless you want to scream at me to, Cyborg."

Robin picked up Starfire and started to leave, but was stopped when Cyborg started speaking.

"If you want I can call the honorary Titans and the Titans East." He said. "Maybe they can help look for her."

Robin nodded "Good idea." He said.

"Robin."

"What?"

"It wasn't your fault man. You didn't abandon her."

"No," Robin said with a dejected look "Beast Boy was right. I did abandon her."

"Wait!" Cyborg said, trying to think of something that would help, but Robin had already left.

Cyborg muttered several interesting profanities that his mother would have been embarrassed to here him utter and started calling people.

He started with the Titans East. He was greeted by the familiar face of Bumblebee.

"Hey! What's up? How did the party go?" she said without preamble.

Cyborg smiled in spite of his foul mood "The party was a hit, but we got a problem."

"What?"

Cyborg outlined for Bumblebee the morning's events, starting at the time the alarm rung and ending with them arriving back at the tower. He said nothing about the fight between Beast Boy and Robin. That was private stuff.

"Are you sure it was a wizard?" she asked, looking thoughtful.

"Pretty sure."

"Have you talked to Jinx?"

"What?" Cyborg gave her a startled look "Why would Jinx know anything about this?"

"Well, she is a sorceress, isn't she?" Bumblebee replied "She might know who this guy is. You know how these magic users keep in touch."

"Ummmm, nooooooo." Cyborg said mystified. "I didn't know that magic users keep in touch. And why would you know this?"

"Jinx told me about that place that wizards meet with each other. From what she said it's kind of like a magic user club or something like that. As for how I know, well we were both in the Hive together. She told me a bit about it once. Raven never mentioned it?" Bumblebee gave Cyborg a puzzled look.

"No" Cyborg said, suddenly frustrated with Raven and her blasted secrecy "She's never said a word."

"Well, contact Jinx and Kid Flash. Jinx might know something useful. In the meantime I'll get my team to look for Raven too. See ya Sparky!"

"See ya, Bee, and don't call me Sparky." Cyborg said. He folded his arms angrily, thinking hard.

"Darn it Raven," he said to himself "Why are you so secretive? Why do you still not trust us?!"

He called up Jinx's and Kid Flashes communicator. The two of them had started a kind of wandering hero partnership ever since the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil. Cyborg had to admit they worked well together, even though he still felt a small stab of jealousy whenever he saw the two of them side by side. He still kind of liked Jinx, even though she had made it perfectly clear that she felt nothing for him.

Kid Flash's cocky, laid-back face appeared on the viewscreen with a playful smirk "Hello, you have reached the wonderfully handsome and terribly dashing Kid Flash and his gorgeous partner in crime: Jinx. Please press one if you are being attacked by evil mind sucking aliens-"

Tired after fighting a magical lunatic, listening to his team insult each other, and learning that Raven was keeping yet more secrets from her friends, Cyborg was in no mood to listen to garbage.

"Don't start this today K.F. I need to talk to Jinx. Now." Cyborg said with a growl.

"Okay, okay. Good grief." Kid Flash muttered.

After a few mutters, which Cyborg could not make out, Jinx's face appeared on the screen.

"What do you want?" she said grumpily.

Cyborg suppressed a small sigh. Even though it had been months since the whole spying and betrayal incident at H.I.V.E Academy it seemed like Jinx was still inclined to be nasty to him.

Cyborg launched into the same story he told Bumblebee. As he talked Jinx's expression changed from mild annoyance to…fear? Yes, fear! What was up with that?

"This wizard, did he have a familiar?" She asked when he started describing the wizard.

"Err, a familiar what?"

Jinx rolled her pink feline eyes "A familiar, you dolt. An animal or magical creature that seemed to obey his every order?"

"Err, would a big spider count?"

"Yep, what color?"

"What kind of a question-" Cyborg started.

"I know several mages with spider familiars; I need to know the color!" Jinx bellowed.

"Blackish brown, it looked kind of like a tarantula."

"What powers did he have?"

"I only saw two. He grabbed Beast Boy and kind of made him faint or something. And he used this weird toy gun thing on me. It shot grey light and pushed me about the length of a football field."

Jinx looked away for a moment and cursed.

"Jinx, do you know this guy?" Cyborg demanded.

"Personally, no, but I think I have heard of the guy before. You mind if Kid Flash and I drop by? I'm going to have to talk to everyone who fought him. It'll help me tell for sure if what I suspect is true."

Cyborg didn't see how this would hurt, as long as Beast Boy didn't get all weird again. But they really had no choice. If Jinx had any information that could help Cyborg was more than willing to listen to her.

"Yeah, come on over. Just make sure you make it here fast."

"I travel around with the original speed demon! I can barely go slowly!" Jinx said and cut off communication with not another word.

* * *

Jinx was muttering rude words as she shut off the communicator and turned to her "partner". By now Kid Flash had almost completely convinced her to join the whole "good guy" scene, but she still had a mean streak. She really did not like the Titans that much, it was hard to let go of about a year of animosity, but she had to admit she did feel a certain…kinship with Raven. Part of it was the fact that they were both magic users, another part was that they shared similar Goth-like tastes. Jinx was pretty sure that Raven didn't completely trust her, but that was alright. Frankly, Jinx neither needed nor wanted Raven's trust; she had Kid Flash for that. But somehow Raven and Jinx had managed to acquire a certain respect for each other, if only because of the whole magic user thing. Most magic users considered themselves a breed apart from "common mortals" and while Raven was the least haughty of this particular breed Jinx knew there was still a bit of that "we are better than the rest of these idiots" feeling between the two of them. But then that might also stem from the fact that most of the time the rest of Raven's team did indeed act like idiots, particularly Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"So, we headed to Jump City?" Kid Flash asked with a rare expression of concern on his face. He could tell from Jinx's body language that she was worried, and he didn't like that at all. Jinx barely knew the meaning of the word fear. If she was scared then it must be something really bad.

"Yeah." Jinx said, climbing onto the bike that Kid Flash had bought for her. The thing was really the only way she had of keeping up with her friend. And it was her style too. It was a curious mix of black with pink strips. Between the handlebars was a steel curved horn, like a unicorn horn. It was light and it was fast, and to tell the truth Jinx really loved it.

"Is it really bad? What happened?" Kid Flash asked, not liking the too-serious look in Jinx's eyes.

"Ravens been captured. And I'm afraid it might have been the magic world's version of the boogeyman."

It was a somber pair that speeded toward Jump City.

* * *

After about an hour of fruitless searching, Beast Boy had to finally admit the several truths:

He had no clue where Raven could be.

This pointless flying around was…well pointless

He had no leads

He had really been a jerk to Robin

And he should probably go back and apologize.

Beast Boy gave an eagle sigh, which was not that different from a human one. He couldn't help but wonder why in the world he suddenly felt so…protective of Raven lately. It didn't make any sense. Beast Boy knew darn good and well that Raven could take care of herself (he had the bruises to prove it). Lately for some reason every time she looked like she was in the least bit of danger he would suddenly feel very very angry. When had it started? Beast Boy didn't know. He was pretty sure it hadn't happened instantly, that was for sure! It felt like a more gradual, slow thing to him.

Mentally he went over his relationship with Raven, from start to finish. Let's see…his first impression of her, was…well…something along the lines of

"Boy she is creepy!"

It was as mean thing to think, he knew, but it was true. Raven was very creepy, and made no attempt to hide the fact. At first Beast Boy had not been certain that he could trust her. He had tried to make her laugh in the hopes that it could help break that ice shield she seemed to have around her. It never worked.

Then came the incident with her mirror. After seeing all those other sides of Raven's personality Beast Boy knew that Raven was actually a very complicated and interesting person. He tried talking to her more in order to get her to trust him, but it still did not seem to work. She still seemed to see him as just some annoying jerk and that irritated him. He was only trying to be nice but she kept pushing him away. At one point he had snapped and asked her why she insisted on being so creepy. Beast Boy realized now that little comment had, in part, lead to the situation with Malchior. He supposed that he was partly to blame for the fact that Raven felt that she was all alone, even though Beast Boy had been going for the exact opposite reaction. It was the night after Malchior was resealed in the book that Beast Boy finally connected with Raven. That hug she gave him proved it. He still got the feeling that she thought that he was an idiot, but there was a bit more affection and a bit less irritation. Not much but a little.

After that it finally became better. Their relationship changed into a sort of brother/sister thing. Although she still did not laugh, or even grin, at his jokes Raven seemed a bit less frigid. A bit less icy. A bit less cold. And Beast Boy was finally realizing that Raven was very wise. He no longer mistrusted her, in fact aside from Cyborg (his best friend) Raven was the Titan he trusted the most. She was the one you went to if you needed a clever solution to any problem. After all, wasn't she the one who suggested he get a job in order to obtain a moped? And it worked too! Even though the job he gotten involved evil aliens, and the moped had broken down in battle Raven's advice had still been useful.

After the prophecy of Raven's birth had been fulfilled, and it looked as if she had been killed Beast Boy realized how much she had meant to him. He really cared about her, and he did not want her to leave. Even through the battle and the fear and the chaos he could still feel a hole in his heart where he knew Raven should be. When she came back to them he was overjoyed.

Maybe it was because the team had almost lost her, but it was around that time when Beast Boy started to notice something: despite Raven's spooky tastes and mean attitude and abrasive nature she was really…pretty. No, not pretty. The word he was looking for was beautiful. Part of it was her eyes, and her hair (although she did not seem to fuss with it that much it was still pretty). How often did you great hair and eyes that particular shade of purple? Not often. And Beast Boy could tell that both were natural. He had never once smelled any type of dye in Raven's hair (being part animal he would have noticed that). Now if only he could get her to smile more often! He had managed to see her smile…twice was it? Maybe three times? It was not often, but those times that she did Beast Boy could not help but notice that she was even more pretty when those rare smiles occurred. It was like her entire face would light up and-

Mentally he shook himself. What was he thinking? It almost sounded like he…_liked_ her! Well, he did like her, but as a friend, not as anything more than that.

Right?

Right.

It was no more than simple friendship, nothing more.

_Then why is it every time you smell her scent you get goosebumps? _A little voice inside whispered.

That's nothing!

_Some animals choose potential mates by smell, you of all people should know that._

Okay, so maybe I'm becoming a victim of male hormones. So what? That doesn't mean I like Raven!

_Doesn't it? You don't feel that way around Starfire._

She's Robin's girl!

_That wouldn't matter to a hormone._

Beast Boy had nothing to say to himself on that one.

_Face it. You like her. As in "the" like. The big like. The one where you can't stop dreaming about her at night-_

STOP! What about Terra? What about Malchior?

_What about them? Terra never really wanted you, and Malchior was just using Raven. They have nothing to do with this. Stop lying to yourself! You. Like. Raven. End of discussion._

No, that's not the end. Maybe I do like her, but she does not like me. Not like that.

_How can you be sure of that? You know she needs to keep her emotions locked up in case her powers go wacky. How can you be sure that she doesn't secretly like you?_

Let me think. How about all those times she's called me an idiot? A pinhead? A moron? She thinks of me as an annoying brother at best and nothing else. Defiantly not that way.

_Still, you love her._

NO!

_STOP DENYING IT!_

I'LL NEVER ADMIT IT! I DON'T WANT MY HEART BROKEN AGAIN. I DON'T WANT HER HEART BROKEN AGAIN. LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

The voice abruptly left, leaving Beast Boy blissfully alone.

Cranky, and by now getting hungry, Beast Boy finally had to admit defeat, at least for today. He WOULD find Raven, but he needed to get back to the tower, eat something, and try to think things through.

And apologize to Robin.

He back at the tower in a matter of minutes. Using the roof as a landing pad he shifted back into human form. For a while he stared a bit at a particular spot on the roof. It was Raven's meditation area. She should be there right now, sitting cross-legged and floating, chanting that weird little chant of hers. But she was not there. Instead there was a vast emptiness where she should be.

Or maybe that emptiness was a little closer to Beast Boy than he liked to think. Like somewhere near the chest area maybe?

After yet another deep sigh, Beast Boy entered his home and headed toward the living room in the hopes that Robin would be there so he could apologize.

He was there, alright, but so where Kid Flash and Jinx. They both had some of that leftover birthday cake and pizza and were munching. Well, Kid Flash was munching, Jinx was nibbling mainly because she seemed to be carrying on a serious conversation with Robin and Cyborg. Jinx looked like she was nervous about something and even her laid back partner was looking down. Beast Boy started to find the two of them here. He still was suspicious of Jinx, but he angrily pushed the emotion away. He had already had one argument today; he didn't feel like another one. No one had seen Beast Boy yet, this was obvious because Robin was saying:

"Have to ask Beast Boy about that when he gets back."

"I am back." Beast Boy said, neatly startling the entire group, even Jinx. It was not like her to be this jumpy, and Beast Boy was instantly on alert.

"Did you find anything?" Robin asked, as if he had ordered Beast Boy to look in the first place. This attitude angered Beast Boy for some reason, but he did not know why.

_Maybe it is more input from my friend Mr. Raging Hormone._ He thought to himself (himself did not seem to want to comment anymore, though)

"Good thing you are back, I need to talk to you." Jinx said.

"About what?"

"Your encounter with this wizard, and I need to know everything. Even if it seems insignificant."

Beast Boy told her about what he had felt when the wizard had touched him, and about the little glass monocle thing. After listening carefully, Jinx looked even more scared.

"Okay," Beast Boy said "Something is wrong here, I can tell. Jinx do you know this guy?"

"Only rumors and tales, but if even half of them are true…" Jinx trailed off.

"Come one! Tell us!" Beast Boy shouted. He realized everyone was giving him a nervous look. In a small, almost self conscious voice he added "Please."

Jinx leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, then she started talking.

"His name is Sumal Kijak , and he steals magic."

"You mean like books and things?" Cyborg asked.

"No, I mean soul magic." Jinx looked around and was greeted by blank looks. "Guess you guys don't know much about magic, huh. There are a bunch of different types. Alchemy is when you mix up a bunch of things to get something else, sort of like chemistry only with magic words. And eye of newt. There are "straight" spells that you get from books that just about anyone can do. There are too many for me to explain all of them right now, but the kind that Raven and I use most often is called soul magic. It's magic that is linked directly to our souls. It is easier and quicker to use than straight spells or alchemy, and the results are instantaneous. Well, you've seen both of us at work; you know what it looks like. The thing is people like Raven and I are really rare, even in the magic world. Sumal Kijak is a guy who finds people like us and steals their soul magic."

"How is that possible?" Beast Boy asked, completely taken aback.

"Not sure. I've never met the guy and I hope I never do. He's kind of like the wizard version of a serial killer."

Robin had a thoughtful look on his face. Beast Boy had seen it many times before. It was the face he took one when putting two clues together.

"Jinx," Robin said "If this soul magic is linked to Raven's soul, and this guy steals it..." Robin's eyes grew wide and scared "Jinx, will it kill her?!"

At those words Beast Boy's heart froze. Raven dead? This time for real? It was not possible!

Was it?

"Not her body, no." Jinx said "But to have your soul magic taken like that…I've seen some of his former victims, Robin. They're like those people you see in the intensive psych ward, they just kind of wander around like they're lost or something. They look like they have nothing left to live for. Just try to imagine walking around with half of your soul gone! It's bad, Robin. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."

"How do we find this guy?" Beast Boy asked, a scary light in his eyes.

"No one knows where he hides out, I don't think it can be found-"

"NO!" Beast Boy bellowed "I don't believe you! We can find him! We have to find him! I'm not going to let him do that to Raven!"

"Now wait a minute-"

Beast Boy didn't even try to argue anymore. He shifted to wolf form and with a pained howl speed out the door, leaving a very shocked group behind him.

"What is wrong with him?" Jinx asked, "Too much sugar?"

"He's been taking this very hard." Robin said. _Too hard_ he added mentally, but he did not say this aloud.

Robin turned to Jinx and questioned her some more about Sumal Kijak. Robin didn't know that much about magic, so he was confident a way would be found, and even though Jinx did not seem to agree, she was still cooperative.

* * *

Soft padded paws approached Raven's vacant room. Even though he had been told over and over not to enter on pain of near death Beast Boy could not help himself. He slipped under the door in fly form and then shifted back to wolf.

Wolves had some of the best noses in the animal kingdom, and he wanted a good nose. He wanted to breathe in her scent.

Although he knew she would kill him if she came back and saw green wolf hair on her sheets, Beast Boy jumped up onto Raven's bed and curled up as a wolf. His human half thought this was a bit silly, but his animal half said that this was right. This was important. It had something to do with scent, and remembering. He had done the same thing with Terra when she had left. But this was different, he knew that. Just how different he did not know, but still very different.

He lay there for a long time, breathing in Raven's scent.

Just as he had done for Terra.


	6. Chapter 6

An Authors Note: Wow, I finally got a review for my story! Thanks to TDG3RD for his (um, or her) nice comments. You are the first person to ever review any of my work (and frankly I'm very glad that my first commenter didn't write "you suck" or something like that).

By the way, I don't mind reviews at all, but the amount or content of them will not affect the speed or anything else about my writing. In other words mounds of e-mails will not cause me to write any faster (but they might make me go slower, in case I feel inclined to answer). And I'm not going to quit this even if I get a bunch of reviews with nothing but cuss words in them (not that I've gotten any yet, but you never know). However, if anyone has some useful CONSTRUTIVE criticism I will listen, and if anyone has a question for me I will be glad to answer (as long as it had nothing to do with my personal life).

Enough rambling, lets start the show!

* * *

Chapter Five

Falconblood Stones

Raven awoke to an explosively horrible headache. In fact it felt like she had been smashed in the head by a rampaging elephant. She groaned and tried to rub her throbbing forehead, but her arm refused to move. Suddenly worried that she was paralyzed she tried to sit up. She managed to lift her head, but not much else. She soon spotted the reason why, someone had strapped her down to some sort of metal table. Abruptly she was reminded of that old black and white movie with the mad scientist and his monster creation. That was not a comfortable thought at all. Where the heck was she?

A familiar, horrible scraping sound came from above her head, and Raven leaned her head back to see what it was. Sitting there looking at Raven was the spider creature known as Riki. Raven was no longer thinking of movie monsters, know she was thinking about spiders and flies and what ACTUALLY happened to poor little defenseless insects caught in a spider's web. It took all of her self control not to go into screaming hysterics right then and there.

This worst part of this whole deal was the fact that Raven could literally see the monster's mouthparts moving around. Did those things ever stop twitching their fangs? Raven didn't like it one bit. She wondered why the thing wasn't munching on her head right then, but it did not seem interested.

But…wait a minute; didn't that thing have a master? Yes it did! For a moment Raven had forgotten about the dratted wizard!

But if she was strapped to a table, with an ugly familiar obviously guarding her…

Oh great.

Obviously her friends had not gotten to them museum in time. Either that or Sumal had managed to beat them. She doubted that this guy had beaten them, though. They had fought Trigon and won, surly some wizard would have been no problem for them.

Right?

Now, to find a way out of here. Raven knew that her friends were probably looking for her, but that did not mean that she should not try to free herself. She knew that she was not strong enough to break the straps, but she still had her powers. She could still sense them; Sumal had not taken them yet.

She attempted to use her powers, but found that she could not. They were still there, but they were being blocked by a powerful spell. Raven mentally strained against the block, but this was one spell she could not break, at least not quickly. If she had time to work with it then she might be able to crack it.

But time was something she did not have. Right when Raven starting renewing her attack on the block, her captor came into the room.

"Might as well stop doing that." Sumal said mildly, he could feel Raven straining against the block. She heard him walking around the room, but could not see him that well. She really only had a good view of one wall, not to mention the fact that her eyes kept involuntarily glancing over at a certain spider.

Raven glanced at the door Sumal had come through. She expected to see Robin kicking his way into the place any minute now. The Titans had always come through for her, even when she thought the situation was hopeless. But no one came. No Robin with that battle cry of his. No Starfire with her starbolts. No Cyborg with his ridiculous, but somehow hearting, cry of booyah. And no Beast Boy with his moronic jokes and blatant stupidity. Raven waited for them to arrive and help, even though it really irked her to need rescue like this. But no one arrived. Where were they?

She heard someone…chanting some sort of spell. It could only be Sumal. And that chanting could only mean one thing. He was preparing to steal Raven's powers. She knew this would not be like the time she became Trigon's portal. That time her powers had been weakened, but they had still been there. This time she knew that they would be gone completely.

Sumal stopped chanting and approached Raven, his left hand and arm incased in an eerie white light. Though she was afraid Raven could not help but be fascinated by the spell. It was clearly a complex and layered thing, and a part of Raven could not help but find it interesting. She had never seen anything like it. Sumal might have been a shameless thief and a monster, but she had to admit that the other wizard must have been some sort of genius to come up with this spell.

Sumal passed his glowing hand over Raven's body, like a gold digger using a metal detector to search for coins on the beach. His face held no expression at all, and it was starting to freak Raven out a little. In Raven's experience it was about now that the villain was usually bragging about his brilliant plan or threatening his helpless prisoners or delivering his formalized ransom statement to the leaders of the world, but Sumal had skipped all the banter was going about his business as if this was something he did everyday. There wasn't even any maniacal laughter echoing throughout the room. Weren't villains required to laugh manically at least once? But Sumal was calm, frighteningly so. It was the kind of calm usually displayed by sociopaths without any human conscience. He had the attitude of one doing a minor chore. Raven had never before encountered an opponent who skipped the dialogue and just did whatever he was planning without preamble. It was then she knew that she was in real trouble. She would have preferred a long rant, it would have bought her some time, and it would make her feel less like the pig getting ready to be slaughtered by the butcher.

All of a sudden the wizard plunged his magicked arm into Raven's torso. His arm went through her body like a ghost's would have. It didn't hurt, but it was terribly cold. She felt him grab something inside her, and he slowly started pulling it out. That was when the pain hit. It felt like he was trying to tear her arm off, yet it was still so much worse than that. After all it was not a physical part of her that he was removing; it was a part of her soul. And the agony only got worse as Sumal slowly extracted his arm from Raven's body. After a while she could no longer stand it. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on something, anything else. Meditation exercises, computer programs, how to build Cyborg's stupid car, Beast Boy's bad jokes, anything to dull the pain. She heard a pain filled whine coming from somewhere, and then she realized that it was coming from her. Finally, when Raven thought that she was just going to start screaming and never stop she felt a terrible ripping sensation. The pain was gone, leaving a dull empty feeling in its wake.

She wanted to keep her eyes closed, but she had to see what exactly Sumal had taken from her. She forced her eyelids open. There he stood, holding a black ball of pure energy in his hand. Her energy. Her powers. A part of her soul. She felt a sudden surge of hatred and anger toward this evil man, but long habit caused her to keep it locked inside. She still had not realized that she was now free to feel what she wished. She watched as he pulled out a black pendent out of his robes. With yet another spell he…kind of poured her powers into the pendent. It was over. Raven's powers where now completely his, and there was nothing Raven could do to prevent it.

He studied his prize for a moment (err, the pendent I mean) with a certain amount of pride. After a few minutes his gaze returned to Raven. It looked as if he was pondering what to do with her. Seeming to come to a discussion about something, he nodded to himself. He then walked to the door, opened it and called to someone.

Raven heard the rumble of heavy footsteps and watched as two golems entered the room. They were huge creations of living stone. They were basically just a pair of lumpy arms and short thick legs with no heads to speak of. They lumbered toward Raven and removed the restraints. Before she could even think about running they had grabbed her arms and started dragging her out the door.

"What are you going to do now?" Raven growled, trying her best to sound defiant.

Sumal held up his hand to stop the golems from dragging her away so he could answer. He stared at Raven for a moment.

"I'm going to kill you." He said. There was absolutely no humanity in his voice, and that made his statement all the more chilling.

A few minutes later Raven found herself locked in a cell. It was one of those classic dungeons, with absolutely nothing but four stone walls and a damp pile of straw. She was pretty sure something had already died in here; the stink of the place was proof of that.

"Worse then Beast Boy's room." She muttered. The thought of the green changeling made Raven's heart ache for a bit, though she had no idea why. Nostalgia, most likely. In fact she rather wished the green string bean was here. She would never admit it to his face, but Beast Boy's jokes really could be funny. In fact she missed Beast Boy a bit more than she missed the others, Azar knew why.

She started to brush her hair out of her eyes, but then noticed something odd. The black stones that she usually wore on the backs of her hands were gone.

Feeling slightly panicked, she checked her other hand and discovered that it was missing its stone as well. Not only that the broach that she usually wore on her cloak had vanished as well, as had her belt.

"That b(censored). " She grumbled "Bad enough he runs off with my powers, but does he have to take my black falconblood stones as well? I guess I really don't need them anymore, but still. Well at least he didn't steal this locket."

She stared at her birthday present (which was still around her neck); since it was not magical Sumal had felt no need to take it.

Raven opened it and stared at the smiling images of her friends. Although there was no logic to it looking at them gave her some hope. So they were too late to save her powers, so what? She knew in her heart they were looking for her, and that they would find her. They would come, and they would not fail. The Trigon incident had proved to her that her friends could do anything. She had always thought that her destiny was inevitable, but they had proven her wrong. No way would they let her die at the hands of this wizard.

Speaking of said wizard, Raven wondered what he meant when he said he was going to kill her. Like Jinx she had heard tales of this guy, and most of said tales agreed that he always let his victims go when he was done with them. Why would he choose to kill her? Unless-

That book! It had to be the answer! Raven knew that really dark spells sometimes required a sacrifice, a human sacrifice. While she was not technically human, Raven could bet that this was what Sumal wanted her for. He could try out a spell from the book using her as a sacrifice for the dark magic. That could also be why he wanted those falconblood stones. The things were powerful magic amplifiers, and would enhance his magic tenfold.

Oh this was very bad. Not just for her, but for the world in general. The things he could summon with that book…She didn't even want to think about it. But there was nothing she could do at the moment. She would just have to hope that the Titans could stop Sumal. Before it was too late.

* * *

Raven was wrong about one thing. The falconblood stones had indeed been taken by Sumal, but he no longer had them. 

The belt, broach and the two other stones all glittered on Sumal's study, but they did not stay there. Through magic all their own they vanished. Crossing the dimensional void they returned to their home, Titans Tower.

Right under Beast Boy's nose.

* * *

Beast Boy had managed to fall asleep on Raven's bed, mostly due to exhaustion, but also due to the fact that Raven had a very comfortable bed. He was in the middle of a pleasant dream that involved kissing…someone. A very pretty someone. He really couldn't see said someone, but he knew that it was defiantly female. For some reason he started smelling falcon. Now, how many females did he know that smelled like- 

Beast Boy jerked awake and let out a scared yip. He was in Raven's room! The forbidden room! The Room of a Thousand Red Eyed Horrors With the Scary Black Claws! Raven would kill him! Especially when she found him on her bed shedding green hairs.

He expected, just for a moment, to see her swooping down on him with all four red glowing eyes, well glowing. Then he remembered the museum, and the wizard, and the spider.

Now he almost wished he would see her swooping. If she was swooping here then it would mean that she was not there. Wherever "there" was.

Then Beast Boy remembered what had woken him up in the first place, the smell of falcon. He looked down at his paws and yipped again. It was Raven's belt. And that little broach thing she had on her cloak. And those two other stones that decorated the backs of her hands. How had they gotten there? Where they magic?

Beast Boy shifted back to human. He picked up the broach stone (funny how he just knew that it was the broach, it was almost identical to the hand stones) and stared at it.

"Hello Mr. Black and Red stone" he said "do you know where Raven went?"

**"I do."** Replied the stone.

Beast Boy yelped and hid under the bed. He had lived with Raven long enough to know that things that should not talk should be treated with caution, or just plain fear.

**"Oh do come out from there you imbecile,"** the stone said **"we do not have time for games."**

"Look dude, I know enough not to listen to weird talking jewelry. We already had that problem with the dragon!"

**"I am not a dragon and I am not trapped in this stone or anything of the sort! I am only speaking through this stone."**

"Yeah? Then what the heck are you?" Beast Boy emerged from the underside of the bed and glared at the rock, which was now glowing with golden light.

**"Take me to the other titans. I will explain to all of them."**

Beast Boy did not like it, but when he thought a bit he decided it was a good idea. Robin would be better at this then him, and Jinx might have an idea as well. Carefully, just in case something decided to bite, he gathered up Raven's stones from the bed and dashed to the ops center with them.

* * *

Robin and Jinx where still discussing the best plan of attack when Cyborg walked in, Starfire in tow. The alien had finally shaken off the venom, and was now eager to join in planning the downfall of a certain wizard. Cyborg was fully operational as well, and just as ready to go smash some bad guy in a very literal and painful sense. The two joined in the battle planning, but all plans were cut short when a green whirlwind entered the room babbling. 

"Dudes! I was kind of in Raven's room, ya know just to check, and look what I found. Raven's stuff! And this one talked at me! It says it knows were Raven is. But I don't know, you think it might be like Malchior or something?"

"What? Man you got to calm down." Cyborg said while holding his hands in the air. Then he noticed exactly what Beast Boy was holding "Wait a minute, aren't those Raven's stone thingies?"

Jinx was looking carefully at the stones. Her pink feline eyes were narrowed in concentration. Slowly she got up and approached Beast Boy, her eyes never leaving the stones.

"Let me see one of those stones." She said "Preferably the one that talked."

Beast Boy was reluctant, but he did as he was told. He held out the broach for Jinx to take. For some reason a quiet had settled over the entire room as everyone held their breath. Jinx studied the odd stone for a minute or two, and then looked at the others with a critical eye. She grunted.

"Well, well." She said "These are black falconblood stones! I knew she had to have a least one, but all of these?"

"What's a black falconblood stone?" Robin asked.

"Blood of a giant black falcon after it dies. It kind of crystallizes when the bird dies. They are very magical and powerful. Especially if the falcon died for a cause." Jinx said.

"Err, whaaaaaat?" Cyborg said.

**"Are all Earthlings this uneducated?"** The same voice that had startled Beast Boy in Raven's room returned. Everyone except Jinx jumped.

"Are you Rahaska Bloodwings?" Jinx asked with the air of someone addressing George Washington.

**"Finally, a mortal with an education! This was getting annoying. Where did you learn my name?"**

"A unicorn called Mortical. Do you know him?"

**"I have been dead for thousands of years, girl. What do you think?"**

"DEAD!" Everyone except Jinx bellowed.

**"They don't know anything, do they?"** Rahaska the talking stone said. **"One moment please."**

The stone started glowing gold again, and then floated out of Jinx's hand. It flew to middle of the room and flashed twice. When the light left the Titans were faced with an awesome sight. It was a huge black bird, a falcon, whose head literally scraped the ceiling. That was bad enough, but what was worse was the fact that it was literally see-through.

This thing was a ghost.

**"Now, for an education. My name is Rahaska Bloodwings. In life I was a familiar to a man known as Makhar, a high priest of Azar.**

Starfire gasped "That is what Raven is!" Everyone looked at her "Remember when that nasty Puppet King switched mine and Raven's bodies? We did the sharing of our pasts. She mentioned that she was a high priestess of Azar, though I did not know what this meant. She also said the she belonged to a Makhar sect. I did not understand this either."

**"The high priests of Azar opposed the Order of Scath thousands of years ago. While the Order of Scath was one of violence and bloodshed the priests of Azar believed in peace. So much so that they were, and are, almost complete pacifists.**

**Long ago they were about to be destroyed, and because of these pacifistic beliefs they were almost helpless until my master decided to take a stand. He rejected his vow of nonviolence and rode me into battle. Together we saved hundreds, but in the end both of us lost our own lives. As a show of gratitude the priests of Azar formed the Makhar sect, the only sect in the Temple of Azar that is permitted to do battle."**

"Nice story, but what does this have to do with Raven?" Cyborg asked with a disgruntled look.

**"Because Raven is the last of the Makhar apprentices to live. If she dies then the last hope of master's legacy dies with her. I loved my master dearly, and I will not let his legacy fail!"**

"Why are you showing up now? She's put her life on the line hundreds of times before this! Why didn't you show up when Trigon tried to use her as a portal?" Robin asked suspicion in his tone.

**"Trigon's power prevented me from using my own. I do not have much left, in fact I have only a few more minutes until…but that is not important! Listen to me now if you wish to save your friend! This wizard who took her is inside a small pocket dimension as we speak. You will not be able to find him. However, I know that he is planning on using raven in a certain dark ritual. To perform this ritual he will need to return to earth, and that is the time to strike."**

"You wouldn't know where he is going to be, do you? Earth is kind of a big place!" Beast Boy said.

**"Three possible places would serve as a good place for this ritual. One is the old library in this very town. Another is a certain cliff in the Rocky Mountains. You cannot miss it; it is surrounded by four huge rocks that make a kind of bowl. The third place is the underground sewers of Gotham city."**

"Gotham city?" Robin asked.

**"Did you ever wonder why the place is so dark and depressing? It was a meeting place for the Order of Scath once."**

"Alright!" Robin said, going into his leader mode "We need to stake out those three places!"

"One moment." Jinx said "Bloodwings! What is this ritual?"

The falcon-ghost looked at her with a piercing gaze.

**"The wizard wishes to summon one of the children of Yog-Sothoth. That is why he needs raven. He… will feed her to it." **The black falcon was now looking directly at Jinx. **"Save her young mage, for the sake of the Makar and for the sake of both your fathers. I watched over both of them."**

Jinx nodded. "Yeah, I can't let her die can I?"

**"For Flario, for the Curse, and for Makar!"** The bird bellowed as it vanished into thin air, leaving five very confused teens staring at Jinx in puzzlement.

* * *

An author's note: I don't own Teen Titans or Yog-Sothoth, but I do own Rahaska Bloodwings and Makhar! D.C. Comics and I think Warner Brothers own the Teen Titans. H.P. Lovecraft owns Yog-Sothoth. All I have is a bunch of original characters and an old computer named the Clunker! 

Notice that no one ever explains the fact that, while Raven was raised by pacifists and is presumably a member of their…whatever she still fights all those villains? Last time I checked pacifists don't fight period. That's why I created the Makhar sect! To explain this weird little conundrum.


	7. Chapter 7

An Authors Note: To Vegeta247-Now, while I am a Zelda fan (best darn RPG in the WORLD) I really did not have it in mind when I was writing this, unless it was one of those subconscious things. Anyway, thanks for reviewing this, you are my second reviewer! Sorry I don't have a door prize for you.

I also am getting a bit nervous. So far it seems only two people have read this. Is it because I'm new to this fan fiction thing? I feel like a person talking to a wall.

Oh, well, I suppose it doesn't matter. I'm going to finish this darned thing no matter what, even if no one is actually reading it!

On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Six

A Monster is Summoned

The Titans stared at Jinx with identical looks of puzzlement etched on their faces. Not only had they just seen the ghost of a big black bird of prey, but said bird had also talked about Raven's father as if Jinx should know him. Raven's father was an evil demon! While they knew Jinx was a magic user she had never struck any of them as the kind that dealt with demons. And what about this Flario person? And what curse had the bird been referring to.

"Jinx?" Robin said "What was he talking about? Who is Flario and what does he have to do with Raven? And what about this curse?" Dire scenarios involving Trigon and portals and fire demons were racing thru the Boy Wonder's head at an alarming rate.

"She never told you? Flario was Raven's dad. The Curse was actually my father's alias. They worked together until my dad died." Jinx replied unaware that she had just dropped a bombshell on the remaining Titans.

"HER DAD?" they all bellowed at once.

"Well, I guess it is understandable that she never told you. He was a Nazlar, so I guess it's not too surprising that she never mentioned it. Some people in the magic world are weird about Halfbloods. I kept telling her you guys would not mind but she never paid attention to me." Jinx went on.

"What? How? Huh? Her…Huh?" Beast Boy was completely at a loss. He just kept repeating short words. Finally he decided on "What is a Nazler?"

"Nazlar, not Nazler. They are…well…surely you've heard about magical races, right. Elves and dwarfs and things like that?" Nods all around "Well the Nazlar are a magical race. They kind of look like a mix of human and ram. They're supposed to be real aggressive. Anyway, Raven is a least half Nazlar, maybe even more than just half."

"What makes you say that?" Robin asked, doing his best not to sound like he did not believe her.

"Hellooooo!" Jinx said "How many girls with violet hair and eyes do you see running around? I mean naturally, not dyed or something? Only Nazlar have purple eyes and hair, and Raven is obviously not all Nazlar, or she would be taller, and she'd have hooves. And the grey skin is kind of a giveaway as well."

"How exactly did you learn this?" Cyborg asked.

"Well, I kind of bugged her unmercifully until she told me." Jinx admitted "She told me that her dad's name was Flario and that he was a Nazlar." Jinx shrugged "I remembered my mother telling me that that my one of my dad's friends was named Flario. So Raven and I kind of compared notes one day and we figured out that our fathers knew each other." Jinx shrugged again "It was kind of awkward knowing that and having to fight each other, but…"

The Titans looked at each other for a long moment. They knew that they needed to talk, mainly to Raven, but for right now…

"Could you and Kid Flash give us a minute?" Robin asked.

Kid Flash, who had barely said two words all day (an unusual occurrence) nodded and left. Jinx went to follow her partner, then turned and looked at the team.

"Look, I know it must be strange hearing that your friend is not all human, but don't act weird around her when we rescue her. Halfbloods get way to much garbage."

After the doors and swished closed the four remaining Titans huddled together in a confused and babbling knot. After a while Robin managed to calm them down.

"Alright, let's break this down and see if we can figure this out. Point one: we know for a fact that Trigon is Raven's real father, but for some reason she told Jinx some cock and bull tale about being half-Nazlar. The question is, why?"

"Robin what does cock and bull mean?" Starfire asked.

"Means a nonsense story." Cyborg said.

"Oh, then perhaps she told Jinx this lie because she did not want to explain that she was really Trigon's daughter?" Starfire said, even though it was more of a question that a statement.

"Very likely Star. Heck she was even scared to tell us and we are her best friends. I can bet she would not tell the whole story to someone who used to be an enemy." Cyborg nodded already accepting Starfire's explanation.

"But that doesn't explain why that ghost referred to Flario as Raven's father." Robin said "I thought ghosts were supposed to see all and know all. But if he did wouldn't he refer to Trigon as Raven's father?"

"Maybe not dude. Maybe they can be fooled." Beast Boy said "In any case I don't see why we are talking about this now. We still need to save Raven, and we won't do it by sitting here yapping."

"I agree." Robin said "But I think we will defiantly have to talk to Raven about this when she is home." Inside Robin was really fuming. The detective inside him hated being lied to, and somebody was defiantly lying to him. "Cyborg, start calling the other Titans and telling them the three locations. I want eyes on them 24-7. If anyone sees so much as a lightning bug I want to know about it. In fact we'll start heading for the library as soon as Cyborg is done."

Cyborg approached the computer and started dialing up the Titan's East. This time it was Speedy who responded, and he listened carefully. Since they were closer to Gotham than the other team Speedy took the liberty of volunteering them for that city.

Feeling happier now that something was being done, Cyborg tried dialing up another ally, but for some reason he got nothing but static. He tried someone else, and still nothing but static. Feeling slightly freaked Cyborg tried once more and got the same result. He tried every Titancom in the world and no one answered.

"Okaaaaay, this is weird." He said. He tried the Titans East again, and was met with static.

"MAN! Something wrong with my systems!" Cyborg bellowed "I can't get anyone on this darn thing!"

"Are you sure it's your systems?" Robin asked with a scary look.

"What else could it be?"

"Think for a moment. Think of the strange things that have been happening. When that crash happened back there Raven just flew past us, but she would never do that under normal circumstances. When I tried to contact her I just got static as well. Now we get the same static when we try to call for backup. I don't like it, it's too convenient."

"You think someone is jammin' the system?" Cyborg asked.

"Maybe, I don't know. I feel like we are being manipulated. I feel like someone is pulling our strings. I don't like it at all." Robin said.

"What do we do?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin thought for a moment. He thought long and hard. Then he spoke "We go ahead with the plan. We'll be spread thin, but we have to make due. Starfire, you take Jinx and Kid Flash and watch the Rocky Mountains, while Cyborg, Beast Boy and I go to the library. Star if you carry Jinx and Kid Flash runs you should get there by nightfall. We'll park the T-Ship in front of library as well. If someone sees that wizard at any location try to call the others. If you get static again don't try to take Sumal in, just grab Raven and run. Understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Titans Go!"

* * *

Raven had no idea how long she spent in that smell old cell. It was long enough for her to start feeling very hungry. She had not had anything to eat since last night, and not even she could last on just one cup of herbal tea. In fact she was starting to feel a bit weak from hunger, and that was not a good sign at all. Nor was the sound she was starting to hear. She heard the thumping of rock feet coming toward her. She felt a lump forming in her throat and a nauseated sensation in her stomach. She wanted to crawl under the bed of straw and hide, but she did not act upon this emotion. Sure she was afraid, she would have been an idiot not to be scared, but she refused to let the fear control her.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos" She muttered, trying to keep herself calm. Panic would not help the situation at all. It worked. The urge to cower in a corner and beg for mercy faded. She was still afraid, but she did not let it control her.

Two golems, Raven couldn't tell if they were the same two as before, entered the cell. She glared at them, but did not make any attempt to run. The monsters had completely blocked the door. Just as before they grabbed her arms and started dragging her out of the cell and down the hall. She did not fight, but that did not mean she had lost hope. She had a feeling this was a pocket dimension, and if so than that meant that they would have to go to Earth to perform any rituals.

She hoped they would land close to Jump city.

Her suspicions about the pocket dimension were confirmed when she saw her captor casting a portal spell. He finished just as his golems dragged Raven into the room. Her heart sank as she saw what else was in the room. Twenty golems, each one identical to the last. He expected a rescue attempt, and he was going prepared. Not only that but he had that book with him as well. As he turned to look at her Raven did the only thing that made sense to her at the moment.

She spat in his face.

He did not flinch or scream at her, he just pulled out a cloth from somewhere and fixed his face. He gestured at the golems and turned toward the portal with the rock monsters following him. Raven felt a tingling sensation as they passed through the portal.

Wherever they were it was dark. And starry. And…mountainous. They were in the mountains somewhere.

Raven's heart sank. They were probably no where near Jump city. Help was probably a thousand miles away.

For the first time she felt her hope leave her completely. Now, she knew, she was probably doomed.

* * *

Starfire flew over the mountains with Jinx in her hands, constantly scanning the ground for a sign of the rock formation that the ghost bird had spoken of. She had not seen anything like what he had described yet, and this was making her nervous. What if they did not make it in time? What if her dear friend Raven would be killed? If that man had hurt her friend Starfire would be sure to make him pay! She knew that killing was illegal on this world, but at the moment she did not care all that much. She would prefer not to hurt anyone, but in a situation like this…

Raven was one of Starfire's closest friends, almost as close as Robin (but didn't her relationship with Robin go a bit deeper than friendship, yes it did). Despite the fact that Starfire had been doing her best to fit in this odd world she was still a Tamaranian warrior at heart, and they never let their friends go unavenged.

"Hey, did you see that!?" Jinx suddenly piped up.

"See what?"

"Over there, to the right! I see something flashing! I think it might be magical!"

The two of them had been scanning the southern part of this great mountain range, while Kid Flash had been zipping around the northern part. Now Starfire turned right and saw the same thing Jinx had seen. Odd brightly colored flashes.

"We should investigate." Starfire said.

"Just make sure we aren't seen. Don't want to give away the element of surprise." Jinx said.

Starfire agreed, and swooped down and low as she could without bumping Jinx on the ground. Soon they were close enough to walk, actually sneak, the rest of the way. While Starfire was the second lest stealthy Titan next to Cyborg she did know a thing or two about keeping her head down, and on a night this dark it was very easy. But Jinx was easily an expert in that department. Even thought Starfire knew that the other girl was close she could not detect Jinx at all. The former thief was apparently an expert in the field of stealth, probably all that training in the H.I.V.E.

The two of them peered over some rocks and found what they were looking for. A circle of stones on a large flat cliff. In the center was the wizard who had abducted Raven. The evil book was in front of him on a wooden stand he obviously brought with him from somewhere. He was chanting and gesturing, and the bright sparks were flying everywhere. Right behind him was Raven herself, held between two living rock creatures. A type of robot maybe? In Starfire's experience many villains employed robots in their schemes, but these seemed different. Oh well, it did not matter now, but what did matter was the fact that a small army of them were converged behind the two that were holding Raven.

Starfire felt someone gasp in horror. She looked over at Jinx and saw that the other girl was trembling in terror. Starfire was confused. She had fought both against and with Jinx before, but never had she seen the sorceress look anything other than completely confidant.

"I don't believe it, he's actually doing it. The idiot! Doesn't he know what he's unleashing?" Jinx whispered.

"Friend Jinx, what-" Starfire started, but stopped when he saw the man approach Raven.

With a knife.

Starfire was about to leap in and save her friend, but Jinx pulled her back. Starfire's eyes glowed green in fury.

"Hold on." Jinx said.

"He will kill her!"

"No, not yet." Jinx replied.

Starfire was about to just blast Jinx and make a grab for Raven, but stopped when she saw the look in Jinx's eyes. She knew something, and Starfire knew from experience that when dealing with magic it was best to listen to the magic users.

Starfire watched as the man with the knife poked Raven in the arm and colleted a few drops of blood from his victim. He then went back to his book, still chanting.

Jinx relaxed a bit.

"Remember this, Starfire; it is always best to attack a wizard when he is deep into a spell casting. They have to use a lot of concentration for this kind of thing."

"I thought that this ritual required a human sacrifice?" Starfire asked, puzzled.

"The summoning itself does not require a life, but what comes after does."

"I do not understand Jinx."

"The thing he is summoning, a child of Yog- Sothoth, thrives off the blood of humans. What he is doing is a type of bargaining summon. First he summons the monster, then he offers it a human to eat. If the monster accepts and eats the offering then the summoner gets a lifetime's worth of service from the creature."

Starfire stared at Jinx in horror. "That is horrible! It is monstrous!"

"Yeah," Jinx nodded "It's the worst type of dark magic there is. We have to stop it before that thing comes out! It's not just about Raven anymore. If a child of Yog-Sothoth gets loose in the world then we won't have a problem, we'll have an impending disaster!"

"What do we do?"

"Try calling the others"

A pause, then "Just the static again, Jinx."

Jinx cursed, and then made a decision. "Starfire, fly around a bit and see if you can get better reception. I'll go out there and get Raven."

Starfire wanted to argue, but if she did precious time would be wasted. She took off and started attempting to communicate with her friends.

Jinx took a deep breath, then started slowly sneaking toward Raven and the two golems that had her. She used every sneaky trick she knew, and they worked like charms. The fact that golems are as dumb as, well rocks helped her greatly in her attempt as well. Finally she managed to get in a position almost directly across from Raven and the golems. Summoning her own powers she threw several hex bolts in rapid succession at the two rock creatures. Her aim was true, and the two were reduced to two piles of pebbles in an instant. Raven fell to the ground. She seemed dazed for a moment, then jumped up and started running to where Jinx was standing.

Jinx noticed three things, one bad and one very bad and one of disaster proportions. The first thing was that the golem pebbles started rocking, then sprang up into about ten more golems. The second thing was that the golem army turned towards Jinx and Raven and started lumbering toward them

The third thing was the fact that Sumal's chanting had reached a crescendo. Yet another portal was opened in front of him. For a moment Jinx saw a terrible landscape of what looked like an ocean of black ooze. Then darkness coved the portal and something started crawling out. Black tentacles waved in the air as if searching for something to snag.

Jinx had seen enough. It was bad enough reading about these things, it was much worse to see it in person. For most of her life Jinx had never known fear, but now she did.

Jinx, who was one of the most courageous people in the world, fled in terror from the thing that was slithering out of the portal. She could hear Raven running behind her, but that only registered for a moment. The sounds of running feet were eclipsed by the howling and roaring of the monster behind them.

Worse yet, it was gaining.

* * *

Finally Starfire had managed to contact the other Titans at the library and the Titans East in Gotham. But she could not contact Kid Flash, so she had gone looking for him. She knew that they would need everyone. After about ten minutes she had found the speed demon and was leading him to the site.

In the distance she saw three of the five sections of the T-Ship heading in the direction of the coordinates she had sent. They had spotted her as well. They landed in a clearing just a little bit away from the site.

Beast Boy shot from his mini-ship with a determined look on his green face.

"Where is she?!" He demanded without preamble.

Just then Jinx came dashing up, a look of pure panic on her face. Kid Flash was flabbergasted. He had never seen such a look of terror on his partner's face. It scared him more than anything else that could have happened that day.

Beast Boy grabbed Jinx around the shoulders and asked his question again.

Jinx looked behind her and groaned.

"She was right behind me! Oh no, it must have gotten her!"

"WHAT?" Beast Boy bellowed "Where is this thing?"

For a moment he thought that Jinx was not going to answer. Then she seemed to swallow her fear. She looked at Beast Boy square in the eyes and said:

"Follow me."

Everyone noticed that she was still shaking, but no one said a word.

* * *

Raven had followed Jinx as best she could, but she just could not keep up. She had used her powers for transportation for so long, but now she had to depend entirely on her body. However, she might have made it to safety, if not for the tree branch. The thing might have been put there on purpose (and who is to say it had not been?). Whatever the case she tripped over the thing, and her ankle twisted in an awkward manner.

She tried to get up, but shearing pain shot threw her leg. She could not move it an inch. She was afraid it was broken.

Raven opened her mouth to call out for help, but then she felt a long slimly tentacle wrap around her neck. It squeezed and she felt tiny teeth digging into her neck as she started gagging. More tentacles snaked around the rest of her body, and the monster started dragging her back into the darkness.

* * *

Another Authors note: Anyone want to guess what the monster is? Heck try to guess the short story it debuted in. (and it aen't one of mine). Here's a hint: Lovecraft. I really do read too much of that stuff. Oh, just in case: I do not own Teen Titans or anything Lovecrafty (is that a word? Well it is now.)

One last thing, since it is that session: Merry Christmas

And BAH HUMBUG. (Hey, someone has to say it!)


	8. Chapter 8

An Author's note: Thanks to you three who are still with me: TDG3RD, Vegeta247, and my newest reviewer Agent of the Divine One (I read some of your profile, and I just have to say I play the card game too! I favor a dragon type deck! Gotta love those dragons!) Take a bow, Agent, but not where anyone can see. That would look a bit weird bowing in front a computer. You think my writing is exquisite? Wow. Thanks a lot!

Now, once again

On. With. The. Show!

* * *

Chapter Seven

She's Dead!

Beast Boy tried not to overtake Jinx as he ran in tiger form. He really wanted to simply speed past the sorceress altogether, but he did not. He could smell something, something terrible. Every instinct inside of him was screaming in anger. It was like all of the animal forms he had were trying to tell him something, but he was too busy worrying about Raven to listen to them. But the smell was driving him nuts! It was wrong, somehow, very wrong. It was like nothing he had ever smelled before. It smelled unnatural and horrible. He suddenly realized that he wanted to kill whatever owned that smell. That was odd, even in his Beast form he had never really wanted to kill anything (other than the wizard). Not even the smell of the Adonis-Beast had made him feel like this. Like he wanted to find the owner of the smell and rip its throat out.

_Follow Jinx_ he thought to himself _follow her to Raven. The smell does not matter, not at all. Finding Raven is all that matters._ Suddenly Jinx stopped and ducked behind some rocks. Knowing that stealth was now needed, Beast Boy lowered his body and slunk toward Jinx. He could sense the others right behind him, especially Cyborg. The metal man couldn't sneak to save his life! He probably tripped over every loose rock in his path and maybe even a few that were not! Thankfully they were not discovered, despite Cyborg's crashing around.

Together they looked over the rock pile and gave a collective horrified gasp. There was a…thing there, standing in front of Mr. Big Bad Wizard Who Goes around Kidnapping Innocent Girls (at least that's how Beast Boy thought of him as). There was also a rather large collection of rock-things scattered around as if waiting for something. They looked like they were guards or something like that. Behind the wizard and the monster was that darned book that had caused this mess. A beam of light was coming from it connecting to an open portal. It looked like a portal into hell, or at least Ooze-World. Beast Boy dismissed almost all of this to look at the monster. This thing was the monster with the odd smell, Beast Boy just knew it.

It was pretty darn ugly. Its face was kind of human and that was really the only normal thing about it. Its torso and back looked rough and scaly, like some sort of lizard. Below that it was covered in ugly black fur, and it had tentacles protruding from its stomach. Beast Boy could see with his enhanced tiger vision that they had red mouth like things on them as well instead of suckers. He could also see some sort of pinkish eye thing on each hip. At first Beast Boy thought it had a tail, but upon closer inspection he saw that it was really…some sort of mouth thing. Its hind feet where some sort of weird combo of a hoof and a talon, in fact it almost looked like a dinosaur foot. It had Raven gripped in its tentacles and it looked like it was talking to the wizard.

* * *

An author's interruption: Just to make sure I don't get sued, this ugly little creature IS NOT MINE. Can you guess where it came from? Give up? Okay here it is. This creature is related to Wilbur Whateley from H.P. Lovecraft's story The Dunwich Horror. Read it for a much more colorful description of the creature (and a really freaky short story). Actually this creature is not Whateley himself, but a kind of relative. (Oh and I'm not sure that I've described it right, Lovecraft is hard to read. Any problems or inconstancies between my description and Lovecraft's that you spot are most likely mine). It's a kind of hybrid of human and Yog-Sothoth. (PLEASE don't ask me how that works! I have no idea. Just sit back and enjoy the story). Oh, and the whole deal thing, you know the life for service idea, that was all my idea. In Lovecraft the monsters would just either drive you nuts or eat your heads off.

* * *

"You know the deal, her for service, do you accept?" Sumal was saying.

"Had to catch the girl myself, I'll give you only half a lifetime of service. You are supposed to bring her to me, not have me chase her around."

While the two of them dickered over Raven's life, Beast Boy could feel his blood starting to boil. How dare they fight over Raven like she was a…a…Christmas turkey! How dare they! And that smell! It was even worse now! But there was something else as well. A feeling, like an aura. The creature radiated wrongness. It was unnatural, it was wrong. It did not belong here on Earth.

Beast Boy looked over at his friends. They each held an expression of horror and disbelief on their faces. Beast Boy knew it was not just the creature's looks. It was the aura it radiated. Humans are not the most sensitive of beings, but even they could sense that this monster did not belong, and they were reacting with fear. In fact it looked like they were seriously thinking about running away. Beast Boy snarled at them in order to get their attention. He locked eyes with Robin.

Robin was scared, more scared than had ever been. It was as if every single monster that had dwelled under the bed and in the closet when he was a child had returned. All the usually fearless young man wanted to do right then was run home and hide in his room. Like Beast Boy he was being affected by the creature's aura, but his instincts were not screaming at him to kill, they were telling him to run. Then Beast Boy looked at him strait in the eyes, and Robin knew he could not run. He could not abandon Raven again. It took all his effort to swallow his fear, but he succeeded.

"Guys," he said, and everyone looked at him "don't worry, it is just another monster. We beat Trigon, Slade, Brother Blood and The Brain. We can take this thing!" They looked at him like he had lost his mind, but Robin just jumped upon the rocks and bellowed "Titan's Go!" with all the spirit he could. For a brief moment he was afraid that they were not going to follow him, but he was soon joined by a furious looking green tiger that went straight for the child of Yog-Sothoth with an ear-splitting roar.

This seemed to hearten the others. Starfire took to the sky and flew straight for the monster as well, blasting any golem foolish enough to get in her way. Cyborg powered up his sonic cannon, planted his feet, and started blasting away. Robin threw every explosive thing he owned. Jinx tried her best to plow through the golems to get to Sumal, hoping that defeating him would stop all of this. Kid Flash tried to zoom through the golems to get to Raven, but they easily blocked his path. The night was soon filled with bright orange explosions, blue streams of sound, bubble-gum pink hexes, one red and yellow streak, and bright green starbolts. Unfortunately every golem they destroyed resulted in more golems. The pebbles would grow into more rock-monsters, and soon the Titans were not dealing with a few golems, they were dealing with hundreds. The Titans fought harder than they ever had before, but they were outnumbered.

They were losing.

And what did Sumal do when all of this erupted? He simply summoned a chair from nowhere, sat down and preceded to watch the show. He didn't go so far as order popcorn and a Coke, but you could tell he saw this as nothing but entertainment.

Beast Boy however, did not even pause to fight golems. He was getting Raven out of there and right NOW. Bounding from golem head to golem head he leaped toward the monster that held his best friend in its clutches. The golems did their best to swat him out of the air, but he was too fast for them. With a savage roar he flung himself at the monster, teeth and claws bared for the kill. It never even occurred to him to be merciful. This thing was an unnatural monster. This thing had Raven. It was hurting her! It NEEDED to die! Beast Boy was going for the throat. He could practically hear the thing's disgusting blood pumping thru its veins. His tiger instincts were screaming at him to sink his sharp fangs into the things neck and tear. He did not even try to fight this urge, he went with it.

Never before had Beast Boy felt so bloodthirsty.

However, his leap was interrupted when the creature literally snagged him out of thin air with its tentacles. He struggled, but the thing had a good grip, a grip like iron. Now the monster had both Raven and Beast Boy entwined in its tentacles. Beast Boy snarled and snapped with his tiger jaws, but it was useless. The creature gave an inhuman chuckle and looked from Beast Boy to Raven and then back to Beast Boy.

"What's the matter, green one? This your woman?" the monster laughed again. It held Raven around the ankles and wrists (and the ankle was already sore from the branch) and started pulling her. Then it brought that odd tail/mouth thing around and plunged it into Raven's side. Raven could not take it anymore, for the first time since she had been captured she started screaming. But she did not scream for long. The monster wrapped more tentacles around her neck and chest and started squeezing the life out of her.

Perhaps it was the scream that did it, or the sight and smell of Raven's blood or the sight of her face turning from grey to blue as she started to lose air, or a combination of the three. Whatever the reason Beast Boy literally went nuts: he roared and clawed and bit and struggled. In his shear fury he forgot that he could change into different animals. Now he simply yearned to exterminate this thing that was killing one of his closest friends right before his eyes. He longed to feel this things skin tear under his claws, to taste its blood as he ripped into its body. But the thing had such a grip on him that he could do none of these things.

Suddenly Starfire broke thru the masses of golem defenders. Her normally cheerful, naive face was fixed in a mask of fury and hatred. This went beyond her usual righteous fury; this was fury on a whole new level. It was the kind of anger that could literally move mountains and dry up entire oceans. Her eyes were blazing green fire much brighter than they had ever before. This thing dared to attack her dear friend Raven. Raven who was closer to Starfire than her own sister (but frankly anyone could do better than Blackfire). Starfire was more than ready to throw the cardinal rule of the Titans: Don't kill your enemies, completely out the window. She, like Beast Boy, was ready to see this thing as nothing but a small greasy smear on the ground.

Hovering high enough to avoid the waving tentacles, Starfire performed a feat that she had never attempted before. So great was her anger and rage that Starfire not only unleashed a solid beam of green from her hands, but her eye beams activated as well. She had never tried this before; she had not even known it was possible before now. The attack was the most powerful she had ever performed, but it was draining and terribly tiring. A normal creature would have been instantly blown to pieces from her attack, but this thing only staggered back a few steps.

Coming to his senses, Beast Boy noticed an opening that he could exploit. Swiftly shifting to the form of a hummingbird he slipped from the monster's tentacles and flitted over to Raven, who was looking more and more blue by the minute. Once he was above the tentacles covering Raven he shifted to a hyena form. The powerful jaws of the hyena bite into the tentacles. He felt the tail/mouth crunch and break as his jaws connected. Twisting his head back and forth Beast Boy ripped the tentacles apart, freeing Raven. She dropped to the ground, but she did not, or perhaps could not, move. Revolting greenish yellow gunk coved Beast Boy's head and shoulders. It tasted foul and disgusting in his mouth, and he supposed that this must be the creature's blood. Some of it even splashed onto the near unconscious Raven, who was already covered in her own red blood. Shifting to a pterodactyl Beast Boy gently, but swiftly, grabbed Raven in his claws and flapped away as fast and as far as he could. He heard the monster screaming behind him in pain and rage, but Beast Boy did not care about it anymore. All that mattered to him was the beautiful, but terribly injured girl in his claws. All that mattered was getting her to safety. That was all that Beast Boy was thinking at the moment. He could still feel his animal instincts screaming at him to go back and finish the job, but he ignored them. Making sure Raven was safe was far more important. Now he was starting to realize that he could not live without her.

The monster, angered to see its meal being taken away, tried to follow, but Starfire's assault was still going on, and not even the monster could just walk through all that energy. But Starfire was starting to tire, and soon her attack slowed and then stopped altogether. Exhausted from basically unleashing all her energy at once she started falling out the sky fainting. She saw the thing below her and thought that she was to be its meal instead, when she felt a pair of hands grab her under the arms and lift her back into the sky. She looked up to discover that Bumblebee had snagged her, saving her from certain death. Looking around Starfire saw the Titans East's version of the T-Ship hovering over the battlefield. Finally the Calvary had arrived.

Bumblebee gave Starfire a concerned look "You okay? I've never seen anything like what you just did! How did you do it?"

"I am uncertain." Starfire said woozily "But I do not believe I can repeat it."

"I wouldn't think so, hold on!" Bumblebee buzzed over to her team's ship and deposited Starfire there, to recover. It was obvious that Star was out of the fight.

Soon Bumblebee, Mas y Menos and Speedy had joined the fight with the golems down on the ground. However, since there was no water about this cliff Aqualad choose not to fight hand to hand. But that did not mean he was simply sitting in the ship twiddling his thumbs. In fact, it could be said that he contributed the best maneuver in that fight. Instead of trying to blow up the golems he simply used the ship to push as many as he could over the cliff. They might have been able to regenerate themselves, but they could not climb for beans and it was a long way down. Finally catching on to this strategy, the other Titans stopped trying to destroy the golems and settled for pushing them over cliffs. Soon the sky was filled with dropping golems. It was a good thing that no campers were around this particular cliff. The maneuver worked like a charm. Soon the golem ranks were noticeably thinned. The tide had turned in favor of the Titans.

Beast Boy ignored all of this. He flew over behind the rock pile. He simply could not carry her anymore, and he was concerned that his claws might be hurting her even more. Gently as he could he dropped her to the ground and then shifted back to human form. Somehow bits and pieces of those horrible ugly tentacles were still gripping her skin, and a bit of that tail/mouth was embedded into her side. She was covered in blood, both her own and the revolting greenish-yellow muck that had come from the monster. She did not really have any big wounds, but the tiny little teeth form the tiny little mouths on the tentacles were practically rooted in her skin. Trying his best not to hurt her any more than she had already been hurt, Beast Boy starting pulling tentacles off of Raven, but he did not know what to do about the mouth thing. Should he pull it out? But what if her side started bleeding even worse than it was now? She might bleed to death. But what if it was poison or something like that?

Raven groaned and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Beast Boy and tried to talk, but she was so weak she could barely speak. Shaking she lifted her hand and pulled Beast Boy's face down toward hers. Beast Boy's hormone friend screamed at him to kiss her, but he forced the urge down with all his might. He may act like a goof sometimes, but he knew when it was time to make out, and this was not the time. He had a feeling that kissing was not what Raven had in mind at all. He was certain she wanted to tell him something important.

"Beast Boy," she whispered "that thing…"

"I know, Jinx called it child of Yog…er Something or other." Beast Boy said.

"Yog-Sothoth….The Lurker at the Threshold… The Key and the Gate… The All-in-On…Co-ruler to Azathoth the Daemon Sultan." Raven gasped out with obvious effort.

"Rae, I don't understand." Beast Boy said "What are you talking about?"

Pulling herself up slightly so she could reach Beast Boy's pointed ear she rasped "_Yog-Sothoth is an Outer God. _If you do not get rid of his child it could bring Yog-Sothoth here. It will open the gate to where the Outer Gods are"

"The gate?"

"Yog-Sothoth is the gate." Raven said and she fell back, to tired and weak to try to explain anymore. She closed her eyes once more.

"Raven? Hey are you okay?" Beast Boy asked, even though he knew it was a dumb question. "Raven! Wake up! Please wake up!" He shook her, hoping to rouse her, but she did not wake. Beast Boy became frightened. Raven did not look good at all. She was not moving. It did not look as if she was even breathing. He was worried out of his mind. He noticed that the chakra on her forehead was no longer red, it had gone a dull grey. He was afraid of what that might mean. He was afraid she was dead, and the chakra was reflecting that.

"Come on Rae, you have to wake up! You can't die now! Who's going to tell me that I am idiot? Who's going to tease me about my real name? Who will I tell dumb jokes to? Please Raven, please get up!" tears were starting to form in his eyes, but Beast Boy did not care "We need you! We need your intelligence and you courage and your loyalty and… and…Please don't leave us, Raven! Please don't leave me! Raven I…I…"

Beast Boy's ears caught the sound of loud footsteps lumbering towards him. Heavy footsteps that could have only come from one source: the monster. Beast Boy knew that it was coming for him, but he could not seem to care, because he thought Raven was gone.

* * *

The Black Fox watched proceeding with a broad grin. Everything was going exactly according to plan! How easy it was to manipulate mortals! You did not need huge natural disasters like meteors or floods to get what you wanted! All you had to do was play with some circumstances and everything would go smoothly! All of these mortals were reacting exactly how she had known they would.

Except the green one. She had expected Beast Boy to lose control and unleash the Beast inside of him on the child of Yog-Sothoth, but that had not happened yet. What was he waiting for?

"What is wrong with you?" the Fox growled as she glared at Beast Boy "Why haven't you gone into a rage yet? Come on! Turn all big and hairy already and kill that thing! Stop blubbering and get with the program!"

The Fox watched as the creature approached Beast Boy with obvious intent to kill. She ground her sharp teeth. The boy should not die! That would ruin her plans! She swooped down close to Beast Boy (no one could see her; she did not want to be seen, not yet).

"Does the poor little green bean need a bit of motivation?" The Black Fox asked, mainly to herself "Let's try this!" She pointed a black claw at Beast Boy's head and filled it with a flashback.

_

* * *

Beast Boy felt pain shoot through him as his body began to change. Never before had it hurt to shift, but this one was different. He howled and snarled and snapped as the change finally completed. He felt rage and anger like he had never felt before. All of his senses were alive and tingling. Smell, sight, hearing, even taste were all enhanced greater than ever before._

_For the first time he had become the Beast._

_Still needing to let out the aggression he howled some more and ran in a circle, smashing his own room to pieces. Suddenly he heard a voice coming from the other side of the door._

_"Beast Boy?"_

_The voice, so familiar. He was angry at the owner, he remembered that. He broke the door down in a fury. Snarling he glared into the eyes of the female, who he could not quite remember, but was for some reason angry at. She stared at him in horror. He could smell her fear. He leaned down and snarled at her._

_"Beast Boy…" she said, and then the frightened look faded to one of…understanding. He recognized the face and the voice, but he was having trouble making sense of the words._

_"I understand, Beast Boy. I know what it is like. I have to fight a creature of rage like this every day. But you can beat it, Beast Boy. I know you won't let it control you."_

_He was beginning to understand now; this female shared something with him. They were so different, but somehow the same._

_"Don't let it control you. You must control it. I know you can do it."_

_Control…_

_"I believe in you, Beast Boy."_

_She…believed in him? Him? Who was he? He was…he was…_

_Beast Boy._

_Beast Boy snapped to his senses. He suddenly realized how close he had come to hurting Raven. But he was in control now. He tried to explain this to Raven, but she did not understand the language of animals._

_Suddenly he felt something shoving him backwards. He felt his head hit the side of the wall. A smell, similar to his own but different assaulted his nostrils. He looked up and faced a Beast similar to himself, but red. He realized he knew this one._

_Adonis._

_Beast Boy snarled, but Adonis paid no attention. The red beast growled. Raven did not understand, but Beast Boy did._

_"Ah! The feisty one! Come with me, honey." Before either Raven or Beast Boy could react Adonis sank his teeth into the girl's shoulder and yanked her off her feet. She tried to use her powers, but Adonis slung her around a few times and her head smacked into a wall just like Beast Boy's had. She was knocked out cold. Quick as a flash Adonis leaped out of Beast Boy's window and was gone._

_Reeling from his own head wound, Beast Boy snarled and followed Adonis out the window. _

_He had to help her._

_He had to find her._

_She was his friend. And if that other had hurt her than he would pay._

* * *

The flashback ended, but Beast Boys rage did not. He felt the child of Yog-Sothoth behind him, and heard its cruel, mocking voice a moment later.

"What is the matter? Is your woman dead?"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT RAVEN LIKE THAT! YOU…YOU ARROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!" Beast Boy felt his usually weak limbs growing to epic proportions. His teeth lengthened and sharpened. Huge claws erupted from his feet and hands. His eyes went from forest green to glaring white. Once again he was the Beast.

And he was angry.

For thousands of years the child of Yog-Sothoth had lived. It had eaten countless mortals and driven even more to madness and fear with its very presence. Never before had it ever felt fear itself. But looking into the eyes of the Beast, so filled with rage and hatred the monster felt something it had never felt before: fear. This thing was neither animal nor human. It was intelligent like a man, but did not have the weaknesses. The insecurities. It was primal and it was savage. And it was ready to fight. And it would show no mercy.

With another roar the Beast lunged at the monster with its sharp claws bared. It slashed and slashed without any sign of slowing. The monster found itself being pushed back. It whipped Beast Boy with its remaining tentacles, drawing thin streams of blood with every blow. But it was like the Beast did not feel it. It kept up its relentless attack. All the while Beast Boy was bellowing, but only nearby animals understood him.

"How dare you! How dare you!" he roared. "You hurt her! You killed her! YOU KILLED HER AND I LOVED HER!"

The monster was stunned. It was losing! It could feel its life draining from its body! This had never happened before. It was unbelievable. It was impossible, but it was true. The monster was losing the fight.

Soon they had crossed the battlefield. All eyes, both Titan and wizard where upon them (the last of the golems had been knocked off the cliff wile all of this was going on). Soon they were at the edge of the open portal from were the monster had originally come. Beast Boy lowered his head and charged. With a mighty shove he pushed the creature back into the portal, back to where it had come from. It howled in protest, but Beast Boy's strength was just too great. It flew backward about five miles and landed in a big stinky pile of its home ooze.

With the monster gone back to its home, Beast Boy's eyes fell to the book that was keeping the portal open. Rage filled him once again. That book! If it were not for that thing Raven would not have been captured! She would not have been hurt! She would not be…

"FOR YOU RAVEN!" Beast Boy roared to the sky. He linked his hands together to make one great fist. With a mighty swing he crushed the evil book beneath his hands. It crumbled like a week old cookie under his hairy fists. It was gone. It was destroyed.

It would hurt no one else ever again.

The Black Fox smiled her trademark evil grin. Phase one was complete. She would wait awhile before starting Phase two. The kids needed a break. She sat back and watched the show.

Sumal stood up. Still he gave no expression. His face was an emotionless mask as he looked at Beast Boy. He said nothing, but it looked as if Sumal was declaring doom upon the green Beast in front of him. With a flick of his cloak Sumal had vanished, leaving a tired, but somewhat victorious, group of heroes behind. Instinctively they all gathered around the spot where Sumal once stood, all except one.

Beast Boy had shifted back to human and was once again at Raven's side. Gently as he could he cradled the limp form of his fallen love. Yes, now he could admit it, at least to himself. Somehow, despite her attitude and her creepiness and her downright gloominess Beast Boy had fallen in love with Raven. He did not understand it, but there it was. He loved her, but now…

"Robin! Cyborg! Someone, anyone help!" He screamed, his voice filled with sorrow. "Oh Raven! She's dead! SHE'S DEAD!"

* * *

An Author's note: Now don't get angry and stop reading, those of you who are. I'm not even close to being done yet! Wait for the next chapter, because…well…

Nope, can't say it. It would spoil it for you! Hope you liked my interpretation of what happened during the commercial break of The Beast Within!

Stay tuned!


	9. Chapter 9

An Author's note: to Vegeta247- a work of art? Really? Maybe I should change my name to Hilty Van Gogh! (just kidding!) But I really do appreciate the complement!

Thanks to Agent for your nice comments as well, just don't hold your breath to long, you don't want to faint.

Oh, and I might not be able to update for a while. I might be spending Christmas with my grandmother (oh the horror!) and she does not have an internet connection. Even if she does I don't really want to write in her presence. She thinks she can "improve" my stories. Problem is she doesn't watch any of the things I like (Teen Titans for instance) so she doesn't understand what I'm talking about at all! And she can't really tell a story that well (I don't get my writing genes from her!) And also she still thinks I am five (and she isn't even senile yet!). It's irritating. But hey, that's what relatives can be like, right?

Now, on with the show!

* * *

Chapter Eight

Aftermath

Monitors, and other machines of that type, beeped and blinked in the Titan's med lab. Connected to these machines was the motionless form of Raven. The other Titans and Jinx were gathered around her looking worried. The Titan's East had returned home, and Kid Flash had done the Titans the favor of taking care of a robbery that was taking place at the moment. The Titans were glad to accept his help when the alarm blew. They could look after Raven while Kid Flash nabbed the crooks. Jinx, for some reason, also insisted on staying.

Raven had been here in the med lab once before, when Adonis had hurt her. However, this time she did not float above the bed in a healing trance like she had done before. All of the blood had been washed off and all of her wounds had been bandaged. The mouth thing had been removed from her side, leaving a gaping hole that had needed stitches. Her chakra stone was still a dull grey. All her powers where gone, but there was good news.

"She's not dead." Cyborg said, giving Beast Boy a worried look. Cyborg was just as worried about Beast Boy as he was worried about Raven. Beast Boy had been hovering over Raven ever since the fight. Never once had he left Raven's side. His little elf ears were drooping so much they practically pointed to the floor. Beast Boy looked really miserable, and Cyborg was a bit concerned for him. Cyborg had basically figured out what was going on. Beast Boy had somehow managed to fall in love with Raven, without anyone realizing it. Probably not even Beast Boy himself had realized it until lately when he thought Raven had died. Cyborg would have to have a little talk with him, maybe with both of them. He knew that both Raven and Beast Boy's last love lives had not been great successes. They had both had their hearts broken and Cyborg did not want to see either of them hurt, especially by one another.

But for right now…"What exactly is wrong with her?" Robin asked with a concerned look.

"Three broken ribs, on badly sprained ankle, several small cuts" Cyborg refused to say bite marks, even though that was what they really were "and a really big slash on one side. But here's the strange part. She's not in a healing trance, but she is still healing way to fast."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked, curious.

"See this here?" Cyborg pointed to a machine that showed an image of one of Raven's ribs "this is showing at least three weeks worth of healing, but it was broken just thirty minutes ago. Now, she is not healing as fast as she did last time, but it still is going too fast for a normal human."

Jinx, who had insisted on coming with them, rolled her eyes. "Of course she is healing fast, she's half- Nazlar, remember. They're all quick healers. She may not have her magic anymore, but that doesn't affect genes."

"Jinx, can you tell us more about these Nazlar." Robin asked. His detective instincts were tingling. He wanted to know all he could about Nazlar. He still planned on asking Raven about this business, and he wanted to be well informed beforehand. It looked to him like Raven was going to be alright, so he could focus on something else, other than rescuing her. Like whether or not Raven had lied to them about being Trigon's daughter. Robin hated being lied too. Even though it was quite possible that Raven had only lied to Jinx, Robin's instincts were telling him there was more to the story. He wanted to know, and he wanted to know now.

"I really don't know that much, but I know how we can find out!" Jinx said.

"How?" Robin asked.

"Well, we'll have to kind of…borrow a book from Raven's room."

"What? Are you nuts!?" Beast Boy said, finally showing some interest in something other than Raven. "Do you have any idea what's in there?"

"Of course I do!" Jinx said "Remember when we first met? When me and the others kicked your butts and took over this tower? I went through Raven's room while we were here. While I was there I saw a book about the races of Azarath. It could tell you all about the Nazlar people."

"Are you stupid? If she finds out that you went through her room Raven will kill you!" Beast Boy said. "No one goes in her room! Besides, aren't all of you sick of books by now?"

"Well if you want to know more about her people that is where you should go." Jinx said. "I can get it for you, but it's your choice, Robin."

Robin thought about it, he knew that snooping into Raven's personal things was wrong, but he was just too curious. Besides, if Raven had told them the entire truth, then he would have no reason to snoop in the first place. After this nice bit of rationalization, Robin nodded to Jinx.

"Let's go find that book."

All of them headed for the door, except Beast Boy. Cyborg looked at him and asked if he was coming.

Beast Boy shook his head. "No, I'll stay here with Raven.

"She's not going anywhere. She'll be fine, B.B."

"I don't care, I'm staying with her." Beast Boy replied. He pulled up a chair and sat beside her. He slipped a gloved hand underneath one of Raven's and gently held it.

_Man, he has it bad. _Cyborg thought. _In fact, it might be even worse than with Terra._ Making another mental note to talk to a certain grass stain (when he was not hovering over Raven that was), Cyborg followed the others to Raven's room.

* * *

Fortunately no one fell into any magical traps while Jinx searched for the book she was looking for. Raven might not have any magic of her own, but according to Jinx that did not mean that her magical defenses had faded. Jinx found the book in question, right between something written in some weird language and a dusty looking pile of scrolls. 

"Ah! Here it is, Races and Peoples of Azarath, by Cocourious. It is the most recent book of its type. Too bad its a hundred years old." Jinx grabbed the book off the shelf

"A hundred years?" Cyborg said. He had to admit it looked a hundred years old. The thing's pages were so yellow and brittle looking Cyborg was afraid the thing was going to fall apart.

"Yeah, you don't find many books about Azarath around. I'm not sure why. Anyway, why don't we go to the ops room to read this thing? Honestly how does she live with these dim lights?" Jinx said as she led the way out.

The Titans followed Jinx out, everyone eager to hear about these Nazlar creatures. _They must be great people_ Starfire thought to herself _Raven herself is a wonderful person. Surly these people must be good as well, if they are related to her._ Starfire had forgotten for a moment about Trigon and how cruel he could be, and the fact that Raven was related to him.

They reached the ops room and gathered around the dinner table. Robin's curiosity was almost eating him up. He wanted to grab the book away from Jinx and start reading it, but he did not.

"You want me to read the thing or just pass it around or what?" Jinx asked.

"Read it aloud." Robin said "it's the quickest way to do this."

Jinx opened the book, but then paused for a second. "Just so you know, Cocourious was an elf. Worst than that he was an elven scholar. They can be a little…arrogant. You sometimes have to read between the lines with these guys."

"That's all right." Robin nodded.

"Okay, just don't blame me if you don't like what you hear." Jinx said, she looked at the book and started to read "The Nazlar race is a savage and brutal species." Everyone's mouth dropped open at this, Jinx ignored them "like their relatives, the minotaur, the Nazlar greatly resemble a livestock type animal. While the minotaur resembles a bull, the Nazlar resemble sheep or rams. Another similarity between the minotaur and the Nazlar is the fact that, while they resemble livestock, the Nazlar, are in fact a predatory race. They are known to be quick to anger and have terrible tempers, but not quite to the extreme as a minotaur.

The male Nazlar stands at about eight feet tall, while the female is usually about an inch or two shorter. The male Nazlar possesses sharp curved horns similar to that of a ram, while the female does not have any horns at all. All Nazlar have cloven hoofs. Generally the Nazlar face resembles that of a human, unlike the minotaur visage which is more like that of the bull they resemble. However, Nazlar do tend to have very long and angular faces. Most Nazlar have eyes ranging from dark purple to light blue. The most common hair color is purple, but other common shades are blue, green, orange, brown and white. Their skin color ranges from light grey to brownish-black. Their heads are extremely hard, which the males use during rutting season-"

"It actually says THAT!?" Cyborg bellowed "I thought we were talking about people here, this guy makes them sound like animals!"

Jinx sighed "Told you elves were arrogant."

"What is 'rutting?'" Starfire asked.

Robin whispered something in Starfire's ear. "Oh." She said, then paused for a moment "Why is that offensive?" she asked.

"Because you usually only say it when you are talking about animals. You don't put it that way for people." Cyborg said with his teeth clinched.

"Do you want me to continue?" Jinx asked.

Robin nodded, though he was feeling a bit put off by this elf guy's attitude.

"Um…okay" Jinx found the place where she left off. "when they fight over the females" grumbles from the audience. "They also use these sharp horns when in any type of battle. The Nazlar are ferocious fighters, and tend to be a bit bloodthirsty and show little mercy on the battlefield.

Despite their vicious nature, however, the Nazlar tend to be very dedicated to family and friends. They are very loyal to their allies, and will not hesitate to aid any in need. Nazlar ferocity is greatly balanced by their innate sense of justice. Most Nazlar are reserved around strangers, but once a friendship is established they are usually strong and able companions as long as their trust is earned. Family is an important aspect of Nazlar life, and they will go to great lengths to protect those close to them. However this instinct has its downside. As a whole the Nazlar people are far to accepting of half-breeds" now Jinx sneered a little, as if she did not like saying that word. "even going so far as to let them into their royal family."

"Half-breed? Is that not what Raven is?" Starfire asked.

"Yes, but don't use the term 'half-breed', it is insulting." Jinx said.

"But Halfblood is not?" Robin asked, remembering that was the term Jinx had used.

"No, it isn't. Probably because it was a half-elf who coined it." Jinx replied while looking back down at the book. For a moment her eyes widened, and then she went to slam it shut. "Well that's all there is, might as well put it back where-Hey! Give it back!" Jinx shouted as Cyborg grabbed the book. He wanted to know what she had seen that made her eyes widen like that. Opening it back to the Nazlar page, he scanned it and started reading where Jinx had abruptly left off.

"As for half-breed Nazlar, the most common type is the combination of Nazlar and human or Nazlar and minotaur. Like all half-breeds the half-breed Nazlar is a twisted and blasphemous union no matter what the bloodlines are. The half-breed Nazlar tends to be insane and murderous, a savage and brutal-Oh what kind of racist garbage is this!" Cyborg bellowed. He looked ready to throw the book out the window. He settled for slamming it down on the table.

Starfire, now curious, picked it up and swiftly scanned the section about half-breed Nazlar. After a while she said "But this is all untrue! Raven is neither savage nor murderous! She is decent and kind! Why does the writer of this say such horrible things?"

Jinx was rubbing her head, as if it hurt her. "I told you that Halfbloods get a lot of garbage." She said. "Look, for a lot of magic users and races Halfbloods are seen as…dirty, because they are half one thing and half the other. Many do not see them as people at all. You hear a lot from some really old magic users about how Halfbloods are perversions because of the way they were born. It's ridiculous, but it is how a lot of people think."

"Darned racist jerk" Cyborg muttered at the book "Why would she have something like this? It's a piece of trash!"

"Well it does have a lot of good information-"

"You call that good!" Cyborg gestured at the offending tome "That's it! Beast Boy was right! I don't want to see another book for quite a while." Cyborg got up and stomped out of the room, still muttering to himself. The things in that book sort of reminded him of the racist opinions he sometimes had to deal with himself. It came from being half-robot. He had been called a monster more than a few times from bigoted people, and he had a feeling he knew what Raven probably felt like when this "half-breed" stuff. No wonder she didn't talk about it! No wonder she did not want them to know!

Starfire got up as well. "I agree with Cyborg. This horrible book is filled with lies. I do not like it. To call someone bad for the way they are born is terrible." She followed Cyborg out the door. She was thinking about Val-Yor and what he had called her. The man who wrote that book was just as bad as the alien captain! Starfire knew in her heart that Raven was a kind and gentle person, not a savage killer. Nothing would convince her that her friend was at all bad. Not even knowing that Raven was a portal for an evil demon had caused Starfire to think less of her friend. She was greatly offended by the book, and like Cyborg felt the thing was useless.

For a while Robin stared at the book. Mostly he agreed with Cyborg and Starfire. The things it had said about Halfbloods was obviously a bunch of racist propaganda, but what about the rest of it?

As if reading his mind Jinx said "It's not all lies, you know. I've heard that Nazlar really are loyal. And they are good fighters, but I've heard them described as courageous, not bloodthirsty. And you know that Raven is like that. She's loyal, and she's brave."

"And she does have a temper." Robin said, remembering what Cyborg had told him about the time he and Beast Boy had gone into Raven's mind.

Jinx nodded "This guy was a jerk, it's true, but that does not mean that the book is totally useless."

Robin nodded and picked up the book. He had the urge to throw it in the nearest fireplace, but he did not. It belonged to Raven, not him, and she could do with it what she wished. He left to return the book to its resting place. He would have to talk to Raven soon.

* * *

Beast Boy sat in that chair for a long time, just watching Raven. Yes, now he could admit to himself that he loved her, but what now? How could he tell her something like that? Sure they probably did not have to worry about her powers blowing things up now that her dangerous powers where gone, but that was just a part of the issue. Beast Boy knew that she was probably still hurting from the betrayal of a certain dragon, and _Beast_ Boy was uncertain about how she would react to her annoying teammate confessing his love for her. And what about how she felt? Did she love him? How could he tell if she did or not? Raven was pretty hard to read. There were times when Beast Boy had been certain that she wanted company, but when he approached her he would always end up tossed across the room with an interesting collection of bruises. He just did not know if he should try to pursue a relationship with her. 

_Still, she is beautiful. _He thought. _Nice hair, pretty face, those gorgeous eyes, good b- Whoa! Settle down Beast Boy! Mind out of gutter! Mind out of gutter right now!_

He sighed. He supposed all this was not important, not right now. Now the most important thing was making sure that Raven got better. He really did want to date her, but he was pretty sure he should not ask her out when she was this badly hurt. He'd wait a while before he tried anything.

With that decided, Beast Boy continued his vigil. He could not take his eyes of her. Part of it was that he was still hopelessly smitten with her, but it was something else to. He felt so bad for her. She just looked so frail, laying there half dead. He had never thought of her as weak before, but now he supposed she was.

"Rae," he said softly, even though she probably could not hear him "Remember what you told me the first time I became the Beast? Remember what you said to snap me out of it? You said you believed in me. I just want you to know; I believe in you too, Raven. You can get through this, I know you can!"

No response, but he really did not expect one. She was deeply asleep, and he did not really want to wake her up. So he just sat there, watching her. Wondering what she was dreaming about.

**_

* * *

Oh great! Not this again! Raven thought as she looked around. It was the same windowless castle room with the First Draconic symbols on the walls. Once again she was in the form of a blue dragon. It was almost exactly like the first dream. But this time only the green Time symbol was lit. _**

**Raven saw a face there, the pointed muzzle of a dragon. She snarled at it her own blue muzzled raised aggressively.**

**"You again! Get out of my dreams! Get out of my head!" Raven said, smoking from the nostrils.**

**"Your dreams! Your head! This aen't your dream, it's mine, you get out!"**

**Raven was taken aback, mostly by the tone and the accent. This dragon…it was a she! And she sounded…like she was from the South! She had a bit of a southern drawl to her tone, not so much that she sounded like a complete hick, but just enough to place it in the general area of the South. Mississippi? Louisiana? Texas? Raven did not know exactly.**

**"How do you know it's your dream?" Raven asked. "What if you are just a figment of my imagination?**

**"I'd think I'd know if I was a figment." The dragon replied.**

**"How? Would a figment know if they were a figment?" Raven asked.**

**"'I think, therefore I am.'" The dragon quoted "Can't remember who said that. Some philosopher or another.**

**So, this dragon was no fool. She might talk a bit like a hick, but she did have an education. Raven had heard that quote too, but she could not remember the philosopher's name either.**

**"Well, I'm not a figment of your imagination." Said Raven, but the dragon cut her off.**

**"And how would you know that?"**

**"Because I think too!" Raven retorted.**

**"Are you sure? How can you tell? Are you really thinking or do you just think you are thinking?"**

**"Now wait a minute!"**

**"What's the matter? Can't keep up with the rest of the class?"**

**"What class! What is your problem?" Raven bellowed.**

**"Hey! Settle down Miss Priss! You're going to give yourself a hernia! I was only joking! Um? You realize you are fading again, right?"**

**Raven looked down at herself. She was not fading, but the castle was. It was being replaced by fluffy clouds. She was flying through the air.**

**Straight toward a hail of arrows. **

**She tried to dodge, but there were just too many. They struck her wings and legs. She fell like a wounded hawk, strait towards the sea. She hit the water with a huge splash and sank like a stone. She struggled, but her wings were useless. Once again she was going down into the depths and the darkness.**

* * *

Raven woke up, gasping for air. Fro a moment she was disoriented. Where was she? She felt pain like she had never felt before. It was like her whole body had been ripped to shreds (and it kind of had). Her side ached. Her ankle and chest throbbed. And something else too. Someone had grabbed her shoulder and was shaking her. 

"Raven are you alright! Speak to me!"

She looked and saw Beast Boy. But something was wrong. He was…different. She studied him. Green skin, pointed ears (still drooping a bit), little fang poking out, and all arms and legs attached. Noting seemed out of place, but something was, she felt like she was not seeing all of him. Then she realized. She could no longer feel his emotions. All her life she had been able to sense the feelings of others, but now with her powers gone she could not. She had never felt this way before. It was like being blind, or crippled.

"Beast Boy," she said "I can't feel you!"

"What?!"

"Your emotions, your thoughts! My empathy is gone! I can't feel you. Oh Azar it feels like I'm blind!" Raven could feel tears threatening to fall. She tried to stop them, but it was just too much. Everything that had happened had caught up with her, the pain of losing her powers, the horror of seeing that monster up close, the belief that she was going to die, and now the loss of an ability that had been hers since the day she was born. She just could not take it anymore. She started crying, and as hard as she tried she could not stop it.

She felt a pair of arms encircle her, and for a moment she wondered what was going on. The she realized. It was Beast Boy. He was hugging her. At first she tensed up, but then she relaxed. She needed a shoulder to cry one, and if Beast Boy wanted to be that shoulder than that was fine.

_Funny, though. I would have thought he would just make a dumb joke, but he is being so nice._

"Its okay, Raven." He said "I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you."

She cried, for the first time since Beast Boy had met her she really cried. She had shed a few tears in the past, but they were always few and far between. Now was the first time in a long time that she allowed herself a good long cry.

For awhile they just sat there together. Raven crying and Beast Boy comforting. They did this for a long time.

* * *

An Author's note: I know that quote "I think, therefore I am" came from some old philosopher, I just can't remember which one...Oh well, just remember that it is not a Hilty origainal! 


	10. Chapter 10

An Author's Note: Oh, so it was Rene Descartes who I quoted in that last chapter! Thanks for telling me, Agent! I can never get all those philosophers straight. I don't know why. As for Raven returning B.B.'s feelings…lets just say she hasn't quite realized that she doesn't have to keep everything bottled up inside now that she has not powers yet. So she's going to be slowly going out of character the further I go along with this (at least that's what I'm planning, lets see if I can do it!). However, he won't be confessing his love quite yet. Sorry, but I have to make room for the fantasy stuff, you know, magic, swords, wandering around random contrysides for hours on end looking for a mystic something-or-other, running from ogres, that sort of thing. Yes, eventually there will be smooching, but I won't say exactly when said smooching will occur.

Um, Vegeta247? I'm not quite sure what you mean by "double meanings". That elf section was meant to do two things: one, it was to show everyone what Halfbloods have to go through with some people on Azarath (once they actually get to Azarath you can expect more shouting racists bigots and maybe even get to see Cyborg stomp them, God I love making fun of those jerks!), and two it is going to be part of the reason for one of my original characters (who will be appearing…eventually) personal psychosis, and it's a pretty good psychosis.

Might as well reiterate this. Since I am basically going by the cartoon and the cartoon alone I will be making a bunch of stuff up about Azarath and what actually happened to it. I also will be changing Trigon to…something else, in order to fit it in with the Flario thing. Gotta love creative license people! And since no one in the cartoon bothers to explain exactly who this Azar person IS, I will be making stuff up concerning her as well. Hope you enjoy my completely original take on Raven's past! It will be coming at you in little bits and pieces thanks to the glory of flashbacks! Yippee flashbacks!

Oh, and give me your opinions about the dragon Raven has been dreaming about. She is one of my favorite OC's in my fiction and I am eager to know what everyone thinks of her! You'll be learning who she is…eventually.

Once again: On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Nine

Bad Dreams, Worse Memories.

Beast Boy held Raven, feeling highly uncomfortable with the situation. It was not that he did not want to comfort her, but crying girls always made him uncomfortable. In fact anybody crying tended to make him uncomfortable. He preferred laughter to tears. Normally he would have tried to make Raven stop crying by joking, but even he could tell that it was much better for Raven if she just let all of this out of her system. Still, it was strange seeing one normally so calm burst into tears on your shoulder.

And that was not the only thing. He was still suffering from the Dreaded Influence of the Male Pubescent Hormone. Said hormone was screaming at him. Very loudly. Most of the things Mr. Hormone was suggesting were quite inappropriate, for the situation and for other things. He managed to ignore it (he was becoming better at this with experience). Raven needed understanding and comforting, not a male under the influence of his biological chemicals.

Eventually Raven's sobs started to taper off. She looked up at Beast Boy, and the hormone's influence over him increased abruptly. Good grief those eyes were gorgeous! _Dude!_ He thought _that stupid old romance novel clique is right! I do feel like I'm drowning in them! Funny, this never happened with Terra._ Even the fact that they were a little on the red and puffy side from all the crying, they were still beautiful to Beast Boy.

"You tell anyone I was doing that and I'll, um. Drat, I can't send you to another dimension anymore." Raven said.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Beast Boy said. His voice was oddly serious, and very honest. Raven knew he was telling the truth.

There faces were close, very close. And for some reason neither of them could explain, they were getting closer.

In fact…

It would be hard to describe Raven's feelings at the moment, for women can be very complicated, especially in this kind of situation. So…

In Raven's mindscape, commonly known as Nevermore, this was what Raven's emotions were saying and doing at that particular moment.

Love, the purple one who was the most thrilled about this, was jumping up and down like a Mexican jumping bean, repeatedly bellowing "YES! YES! YES! KISS HIM YOU IDIOT! NOW NOW NOW!" She was joined in this chant by Happy, the pink one, who really didn't need an excuse to act like a Mexican jumping bean, as she did that all the time, but it was nice to have someone to do it with.

Timid, the one in grey, was hiding behind a rock. She was chanting to, but she was saying "What am I doing! What am I doing! Oh Azar, what if he doesn't like it! I've never kissed before! What am I doing?" Well you get the point.

Rude did not care. Really. Not at all.

Brave, the green, was shaking her head. "Just do it already! It's not that hard! Just smack him one!" She thought about smacking all the time, no matter what the situation. But this time was not thinking of a physical blow.

Wisdom and Knowledge…were not there. At all. They had gone to place most sensible parts of a woman's personality go when in love right before the big smooch. Who knows were that is, but they took with them a good part of Raven's common sense.

And what of Rage, the most unpredictable emotion of them all? Strangely she was not mad at Beast Boy at all. In fact, she was kind of looking forward to this. She just hoped that he was good, or she would have to kill him.

However, right before lip connected with lip, the door opened and Cyborg walked in. Although he was still grumbling about elves, he did not miss the fact that he had just intruded upon the beginnings of a make out session.

In Nevermore the wailing and gnashing of teeth was heard, expect by Timid who was relived. Strangely it was not Love who wailed the loudest, even though she came close, it was Rage. Rage spent the next ten minutes screaming in, well rage, and vowing to do horrible and painful things to Cyborg. Wisdom and Knowledge reappeared again, but they did look slightly disappointed in not being able to experience a first kiss.

Raven and Beast Boy quickly pulled out of kissing range, Beast Boy looking greatly embarrassed and a bit angry. Raven just looked grouchy. Cyborg pretended not to notice any of this, although he was no fool. He would have to talk to Beast Boy, and right now. But first…

"You're up." He said, not knowing what else to say.

"No," Raven said sarcastically "I always sleep with my eyes open in an upright position."

_She must be feeling alright, she has the energy to be sarcastic._ Cyborg thought. Aloud he said. "Mind if I take a look at you, Rae?"

"As long as it's just medical." Raven said.

Usually Raven was the "doctor" of the Titan's, due to her healing ability. But since that ability was gone, the job fell on Cyborg. He was not a medical expert, but he did know enough to get by, and what he did not know he left up to machines. Due to the fact that most of the team was not human they rarely went to hospitals.

Cyborg, however, knew where his limits were. He did not try to look at the littler scratches. Instead he fiddled with monitors and computers for a bit, making sure all of the bones were setting correctly. He thought that since they healed fast they needed to be checked often, just in case. He also examined Raven's hurt ankle, although it was swollen and looked like a golf ball, it seemed to be getting better. Lastly he asked to check Raven's slashed side. This one the one injury he needed to look at visually. He had to make sure the stitches had not moved or anything while the wound healed itself.

"I need to take a look at your side, Raven. Do you mind?" Cyborg asked.

She nodded. Cyborg looked, making sure his eyes stayed on the stitches alone. The gash showed a few weeks worth of healing, but from the way Raven winched a little it was obviously still painful. Normally Raven did not get scars due to the healing trance, but it seemed like she would have one now. A big one in the shape of a small mouth. However, the stitches looked alright, so he did not linger.

"Everything looks okay. Are you hungry?" Cyborg asked, seeing a way to kill two birds with one stone.

Once again she nodded. Cyborg looked at Beast Boy, who was still drooping about the ears. "Come on, man, you want to help me?" Cyborg said.

Beast Boy seemed to think about it for a moment, then when to follow his friend. He looked back at Raven for a brief moment, and then continued to follow Cyborg. For a while the two were silent, then:

"Look man I know what is going on." Cyborg said.

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy tried to sound innocent, but his voice cracked, betraying him.

"They way you were acting when she was kidnapped, the way you've been hovering over her, the way you look at her. Come on, B.B. it's as obvious as an elephant in a shopping mall!"

Beast Boy said nothing; he just looked at his shoes.

"And just now, you two were about to kiss!"

"Until you barged in!" Beast Boy said, no longer caring if Cy knew he was angry with him.

Cyborg stopped walking. He looked at Beast Boy seriously. "Look man, you've been my friend for a long time, so has Raven. Now, if you two want to start dating or something that's fine with me. Heck I'll let you borrow the T-Car! But I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Think. I need you to think. I know you might have had a thing for Terra, but this is different. I never talked to you about that, but maybe I should have. Now I am. I just need you to think."

"What are you getting at Cyborg?"

"Just this. Raven has had a really bad experience with guys, more than most girls. Most girl's ex-boyfriends don't try to kill everyone they care about. Now, remember what she was like afterwards?"

Beast Boy's ears once again pointed to the floor. "But I would never do that to her!"

"I know and I bet she knows as well, but you got to understand that women don't think like men do. She'll be looking for it to happen again, whether or not she is going out with you or some other guy."

"What are you saying?"

"Just this, before you go kissing her, before you go touching her, before you out or anything make sure she is completely ready. I know you are mister spontaneous, but you can't do that with Raven. She's the kind that needs one of those long lasting relationships. And before you do anything stop and think it through. Make sure it is what she wants. And don't go doing anything while she is sick like this. Right now she needs to focus on healing, not her love life."

Cyborg was right, and Beast Boy knew it. He knew that rushing things would make Raven uncomfortable, and he did not want that. He knew just how much Raven meant to him. He was determined to win her, but he knew also that Cyborg was right about waiting. Raven needed time to cope, and having a lovesick green boy hovering over her was not the way to let her heal.

"I understand, Cy, and don't worry. I care about her to much to hurt her in anyway."

Cyborg nodded and started walking again with Beast Boy at his heels.

"Beast Boy?"

"Yeah, Cyborg."

"Just so you know if you DO end up hurting her I will be forced to bash your face against the walls. Repeatedly."

Beast Boy burst out laughing. Cyborg gave him a stern look. "You think I'm joking?"

"No, dude, that's just it! I've just been given a 'brother threat' from a guy, who happens to be my best friend, for a girl not really related to him, in a big huge T that we and two other teenagers live in. It almost sounds like a plot from one of those lame daytime soap operas!"

"Hmmm, you are right, it kind of does." Cyborg replied.

A pause, then:

"Ewwwwwwwwww, opera!"

* * *

As it turned out the most common item of food in the house was leftover pizza and cake from the party, which seemed like a thousand years ago. Beast Boy quickly heated some of the pizza for Raven (it was the freshest thing in the house, frightening, yes?), while Cyborg retrieved some cake. However…

"Dude, why did you put that cake in the freezer?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg winked "My mom taught me this little trick. You put leftover cake in the freezer to keep it from going stale. Works with the pizza too, that's why a put a bunch in here as well as cake. Stuff will keep for weeks instead of just days!"

"How does it taste?"

"The cake you mean? Not bad actually. The cake itself needs to thaw a bit before you bite it, but the icing, well taste for yourself."

Cyborg handed Beast Boy a piece of frozen icing. It was hard and cold, but melted in Beast Boy's mouth the moment he tried it. It tasted a bit different than when it had been fresh, but it was not bad. It was almost like…icing candy. Beast Boy shrugged. Who knew?

They took Raven's leftovers, and headed back to the med lab. On the way there they encountered a moody creature that resembled a horse from hell, Mithrah. The big beast had been looking for Raven all day, and so far had not found her. He was confused, and he did not like being confused. Beast Boy, who had a bit of animal instinct even when he was human, looked at the night horse closely. He could tell that Mithrah wanted to take a bite out off Cyborg, but Beast Boy wanted to try something. He concentrated, and turned into a green night horse.

Mithrah did not seemed at all fazed by this. To him this only meant that the green one could talk now.

"_Where is mother?"_ Mithrah asked the green one.

"_She has been hurt."_

_"What! Who dares! I will find them and drink their blood!"_

_"We do not know where, but we will find him. He was a wizard-"_

_"I do not care! I will feast on his flesh!"_

_Boy, Raven was not kidding when she said this guy was nasty!_ Beast Boy thought.

_"She will not like that." _Beast Boy whinnied to Mithrah.

_"Why not? He would not be able to hurt again."_

_"The laws of the city say no killing unless necessary."_

_"Your laws are foolish." _Mithrah stamped in agitation.

_"Must we really talk about this? Wouldn't you rather see Raven?"_

_"You will take me to Mother?"_

_"Yes, but you must not hurt my friend."_

_"The metal one sounds strange. I do not like it." _Mithrah snorted in Cyborg's direction.

_"He is your mother's friend as well; hurting him would make her sad."_

_"You can talk to the metal one? Then tell him as long as he does not touch me I will not bite him. But do not let him touch."_

_"No problem."_ Beast Boy changed back, then told Cyborg that all that he needed to do to keep peace around the Tower was not to touch Mithrah. Readily agreeing to this, they three of them completed their journey to the med lab. As soon as he saw Raven on the bed Mithrah snorted and trotted over. The creature laid down near the bed and thrust his head under Raven's arm. For the first time since she had arrived she looked content. She did not smile, but the hard look in her eyes faded, replaced by a much milder face. She stroked her horses' head, forgetting for a moment that anyone else was there.

Amazed at the sight of an animal that looked like a horse but acted like a tame wolf, Beast Boy brought the food to Raven. He wanted to balance the plate on his hand like a waiter and give it to her with a flourish, but he denied the temptation. Knowing him he would probably spill it, and that would be bad.

Cyborg fiddled around at a closet for a while, then emerged with a bunch of pills.

"Rae, I need you to take these."

"What are they?" she asked with suspicion.

"Just painkillers. They will make you sleep too."

Raven didn't feel like sleeping, but she had to admit the pain was nearly unbearable. Besides, it might giver her more time to question a certain dragon. She took the pills willingly with her meal. She had just finished when she started to become sleepy. She felt Beast Boy take the plate away from her. She gently petted Mithrah as she started to slowly drift to sleep.

Her dream did involve a dragon, but not the right one.

**

* * *

There was nothing but darkness here. It was cold and foreboding and Raven hated it. She heard someone approaching, but she could not tell from where. Suddenly a pair of hands that felt distinctly claw like grabbed her wrists from behind and started squeezing. Since she was in the middle of a dream this didn't hurt, but it felt like it should.**

**"Sweet Raven" came a horribly familiar voice "Do you really think that little green animal cares for you? Fool! He will betray you as I did! He only wants one thing from you, and you know what that is. What else would he want? No one can ever love you, not the way you want them to love you."**

**"Go away!" she bellowed.**

**"Oh, dear. You're not going to cry now, are you? Face it, you will always be alone."**

**She broke free from Malchior and tried to blast him, but then she remembered that she had no powers. Right now Malchior had taken the form of the wizard he had impersonated before, but he was slowly changing to his dragon form. As soon as he was done he let loose with a mighty blast of flame. Raven, not knowing what else to do, ran for her life. She heard the dragon laughing at her, but she did not stop. Eventually she could no longer hear the dragon's cruel voice. Little did she know that she was about to collide with someone just as bad. Literally. Raven was so busy looking behind her she did not notice someone was in front of her until she rammed into said person. She fell down on her back. Raven shook her head and looked up at-**

**"Terra?" Raven said with disbelief.**

**"Raven." the other girl replied, her crystal blue eyes narrowed with hate. Terra was dressed the same way as when she been Slade's apprentice. Personally Raven thought that she looked like a mummy trying to be a knight, and thought that it looked ridiculous. However there was nothing ridiculous about the look she was receiving from the former Titan. Terra looked like she wanted to tear Raven apart. In fact, Terra looked like a jilted lover confronting the "other woman". What was the deal with that?**

**Raven went to get up, but Terra stopped her by placing a foot on her chest and pressing down. Raven knew by now that her powers would not work, so she tried the old fashioned way. Terra never moved an inch.**

**Terra grinned maliciously "You're not getting mad, are you, Rae? Oh, better be careful. Beast Boy told me all about your temper tantrums."**

**"What is this? A replay of bad experiences? This is stupid, get off me!" Raven said, trying to sound brave, even though she was scared. She knew how this ended, and she did not want to experience this again.**

**Terra did not seem to hear her, instead she continued as if Raven had never spoken. "In fact, he did a lot more than just talking. Did you ever wonder exactly what we did the night I left your pathetic team?" An evil little smile crossed Terra's face "It was really fun, but you wouldn't know anything about fun now would you? Does it still sting, Raven? The fact that even though I betrayed them they still liked me better? That Beast Boy liked me better."**

**Raven closed her eyes, trying to block out Terra's voice. It was true, she knew it. Beast Boy, and everyone else, had like Terra much better than they had liked her. Who wouldn't? Terra was pretty and she did not act like an ice queen. Raven was just a Halfblood with demonic powers. Now she didn't even have the powers.**

**Raven opened her eyes, but Terra was gone. She got up, not knowing what to expect next. She knew that she was asleep, but she did not know how to wake up. But now what? She had just been tormented by Beast Boy's old girlfriend and her own former lover. What could possibly be-**

**Oh no, not him!**

**A hand grabbed her by the throat and yanked her upward. She felt someone's hot breath on her face, but she could not see who it was. But she did not need to see, she knew perfectly well who it was.**

**"Stupid little girl." HIS voice said "Falling in love with a Fullblood? One of the enemy? Didn't you learn the last time?"**

**"Sanath! Murder! Let me go!" Raven screamed."**

**"How many times must I say it?! Fullbloods are the enemy! They make our lives miserable! How can possibly think you can belong with them, let alone love one of them! He could never love you back. You are a Halfblood and he is a Fullblood. In their eyes we are scum! Nothing you can do will change that."**

**"I'm not going to listen to you anymore. You killed Hadiran you bas-ulk." Raven gasped as the hand clinched tighter.**

**"The only reason he looks at you is because he doesn't know the truth. As soon as he learns he will walk away and never look back. Why did you think the dragon rejected you? If Beast Boy knew he would treat you like all the others did!" The voice continued.**

**"He's…not…like….that." Raven said, gasping between each word.**

**"Really? Then why don't you tell him the truth?" her tormenter asked as he snapped her neck.**

* * *

Raven awoke trying desperately to hold back a scream of horror. It was not just the fact that the dream ended in her death. The memories that the dream had resurfaced stung worse than her many wounds. Especially the last one. She had thought she had gotten over the memories of Hadiran and Sanath. She had been a fool to trust Sanath, just as she had been a fool for trusting Malchior, but with the dragon it had been only her who had been really hurt. Sanath had done much worse; he had taken Hadiran's life. Hadiran, who was one the nicest people Raven had ever met. Unbidden and unwanted, a memory started stirring inside Raven's mind._

* * *

"Oh come on! It wasn't that bad a party!" Hadiran said._

_"Yes it was." Raven replied._

_The two of them were walking down the long hallways of Falcon's Eye Tower, the home and training ground of the_ _Makhar. They were the only two Makhar apprentices, mainly because they were the only two people interested in becoming Makhar. Now they had just graduated, and they were both full-fledged Makhar. Of course Hadiran, who had tons of friends, had insisted on having a party to celebrate. Why in Azar's name he had asked Raven to come she would never know. Not many people liked her, some because she was a Halfblood, others because of Trigon, and others because she was not very friendly and a few did not like the fact that she was the youngest High Priestess ever to live. Or sometimes it was just a combination of all of that. But Hadiran, who not only considered her a friend but a best friend, had practically dragged her there._

_"There must have been something you liked! The music?" he asked._

_"Not really."_

_"The people-"_

_"Tried to pretend I was not there."_

_"Dancing?"_

_"You know I can't dance. Why you insisted on doing it with me I will never know." _

_Hadiran sighed. Honestly, she was just so hard to deal with sometimes._

_"You spend too much time alone; you needed some time with friends."_

_"Hadiran, only you, Twainisa and Sanath are my friends. Why would I want to see anyone else?" Raven asked._

_"If people get to know you they will like you. Besides, you spend too much time with Sanath." Hadiran frowned at the mention of the other Halfblood._

_"You still don't like him?"_

_"He's creepy, Raven. All that talk about Halfblood rights is all well and good. On that I completely agree with him, I like his vision, but I don't like him. Raven there is something seriously wrong with him."_

_"I don't want to talk about this anymore."_

_"Aright, let's talk about the party some more! There must have been something you liked. The food?" Hadiran persisted._

_Now it was Raven's turn to sigh. If she did not answer then he would go on all night._

_"Food was good."_

_"HAH!" Hadiran bellowed and jumped up in victory. Finally he had gotten her to say something nice._

_They reached her room. She turned to Hadiran with a stern look. "You may have danced with me, but you are not coming in with me."_

_"Of course, I know that." Hadiran smiled his cocky little smile, but then he eyes grew serious. "Raven," he said "Have you decided? About coming to Earth with me?"_

_"Hadiran, I'm fifteen. Soon as I turn sixteen I might have to destroy Earth because of the prophecy. How can I go to Earth when I'll just end up becoming the portal?"_

_"Raven, remember what the General says. He says that prophecy is never a sure thing. It can be stopped. Changed. I believe him, why don't you? Please come to Earth with me. We're Makhar; we are supposed to help people. Earth has villains running all over the place! You know it will be more fun than Azarath!"_

_"Hadiran, I just don't know."_

_Hadiran shrugged. "Well, I'm going. I hope you'll come with me, but it's your decision." Then he did something strange, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek._

_"Why in Azar's name did you do that?!" She asked, feeling angry._

_Hadiran shrugged again "I just felt like it." He said, then he turned to leave. _

_That was the last time she saw him alive._

* * *

Raven shoved the memory away. She didn't like thinking about Hadiran. Time and time again her fellow apprentice had told her that there was something wrong with Sanath, but Raven had ignored Hadiran. Now he was dead. Sanath had killed him, and it was all her fault. If she had never gotten involved with Sanath than Hadiran would still be alive. He might even be a Titan like she was. It would have been great to have had him on the team. Hadiran had been a powerful fighter, a loyal friend, and nice guy. In fact, he was a bit like Beast Boy, only Hadiran had known when to stop nagging Raven. If only she had listened to him!

While she was wallowing in self pity and guilt, a familiar face walked in. it was Robin and he looked very serious.

"Raven," he said "We have to talk."

* * *

An Author's note: Seriously, that cake in the freezer thing really works! Try it next time you get too much cake at a birthday party. Not everyone likes the frozen icing, but I do! My family thinks I am strange. Well, they are right in some ways! 


	11. Chapter 11

An Author's note: Vegeta247- yeah, I know the last chapter kind of dragged a bit, frankly it's not my favorite either, but I felt it was important to describe Raven's and Beast Boy's state of mind at the time. Plus I really needed to introduce Sanath and Hadiran. The two of them, especially Sanath, are going to be important to the plot later on. In fact…you could say that Sanath is vital to the plot. Thanks for sticking with me (but you know every story had its slow bits). Anyway, hope this chapter sits better with you.

For the record, I don't really HATE Terra like some people seem to; I just don't like the BB/Terra pairing. I saw their…thing as simple teenage puppy love, not lasting love. As for Terra herself I think she would have made a good Titan, if she had stayed away from Slade. I see her as a sorely misguided young women who is easily manipulated, but not necessarily the Great She-Devil that some writers make her out to be. In fact the worse she is guilty of is plain stupidity (I mean come on, who would choose a creep like Slade over the Titans)?

Oh, and today we get the Hilty Version of Trigon's Past, or at least some of it.

On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Ten

Still a Titan?

"Raven," Robin said "We have to talk."

Raven sighed. She had a feeling she knew what this was about. She should have expected it. They were bound to notice the fact that, though she no longer had powers she was still healing surprisingly fast. She heard Sanath's voice in her head again, telling her that the moment they found out they would reject her. But another part spoke up, declaring that nonsense. They had seen her open a portal to another dimension to summon a demon, why would they have a problem with the Halfblood thing? She looked at Robin and wished she could see his eyes. It was so hard trying to read people without her empathy.

"Raven," he said "you told us that Trigon was your father, but as soon as you are gone Jinx tells us that you told her that your father was someone named Flario. Now we get you back and you are healing way to fast for a normal human even though you are not in a healing trance. Please tell me what is going on, Raven. Did you just lie to Jinx because you didn't want her to know about Trigon, or did you lie to us?"

Raven was silent for a long while, trying to decide. Robin had always been understanding toward her, in fact she saw him as a kind of brother. But there were still the old worries of letting people know that you were a Halfblood. Some people reacted violently to that, but they were all Azarathians. Robin was not from Azarath, he did not have the same prejudices. Deep inside she knew the truth. Robin, not to mention the other Titans, could be trusted with the entire story. Or at least everything she knew.

"Get the others, I'll tell all of you." Raven said. Robin nodded and used his communicator to call the others. Within moments the others were there, inclining Kid Flash and Jinx. Jinx had obvious been told that Raven hadn't been completely honest to her, and she looked a bit irritated by this.

"So you lied to me? Why? Do you-"Jinx began. She sounded like she was about to go on a tirade, but Raven cut her off.

"I never lied to you; I never lied to any of you. I just…left some bits out." Everyone stared at her with varying expressions of curiosity.

"Raven, are you sure you are comfortable telling us?" Beast Boy asked with a look of concern.

Raven nodded. "It's alright. I probably should have told you the entire tale when Trigon first came, but I just…didn't think it was that important. But since you asked…" Raven paused for a moment as if gathering her thoughts. Then she began.

"What most people don't know about Trigon is that he is not really a living demon. He is a spirit demon, someone or something that was mortal while living, but turned demonic and evil when they die. Kind of like an angry ghost. Trigon is the strongest of this type of demon. In order work there evil these demons need a host body to possess, and Trigon is no different. Before I was born Trigon took over the body of a Nazlar warrior named Flario. Under Trigon's influence Flario…raped my mother Arella. That's how I was born. While I inherited my powers from Trigon my genetic makeup is that of a human-Nazlar Halfblood."

The Titans were very quite for a while. No one imagined that it would be like this.

"So…where is Flario now?" Cyborg asked unable to help himself.

"You've met him. Trigon still possesses his body. He'll keep possessing Flario until the body grows old and used up, and then he will go to another. As for whether or not Flario's mind is still alive even though his body is possessed…I really do not know. No one has ever been able to shake of Trigon's influence before."

"Oh Raven, I'm so sorry." Beast Boy said.

"For what?" She asked.

"Well, you lost your father to a monster, that must have been-"

She gave Beast Boy a vicious look "If you think I miss him or something you are wrong! You can't miss what you never had."

"But still…" Beast Boy said with a sad look. He had lost both of his parents when he was younger. He missed them terribly. What would it be like growing up without a father at all?

"Aren't you leaving something out?" Jinx said with a mild look.

"Yes you are right. That's not quite all," Raven admitted she decided to tell them all she knew about Flario so she would not have to do this again. "Flario was not just a warrior. He was the youngest son of the rulers of the Nazlar people."

Starfire let out a thrilled little squeal. "So you are a princess like I am? How wondrous!"

"Well…yeah kind of. But unlike you I'm the very last person who can possibly end up being a queen. There are about…" Raven seemed to count for a moment. "Eleven others who are in line before me. In fact for most of my life I would never have been considered a candidate at all."

"Why not? They didn't reject you did they? If it's because of the Trigon thing-" Cyborg started.

"No, it's because I am a member of the Temple." Raven replied "The Nazlar king, or queen, is expected to be the protector of the people. You can't do that if you are a pacifist. What if someone attacks you? To the Nazlar people a pacifist ruler is pointless. So anyone who is a member of the Temple can never be considered to rule the Nazlar people. Unless you are a member of the Makhar, then you can be, because the Makhar are the one Temple sect that can fight. For a while I was just a member of the Temple. I didn't start studying to be Makhar until I was ten."

"So technically you could be their queen." Said Robin, who was trying to sort this entire situation out.

"Like I said, only if a bunch of my relatives suddenly kneeled over." Raven said.

"How many are there?" Beast Boy was insanely curious. It didn't surprise him that Raven could be a queen. Heck she acted like she was aristocracy some of the time.

"The current ruler is my grandfather, Zarule. Then there is Nakla and her two children: Zaka and Lorzo. Then Morzan, he has three children: Holft and Kale who I hear are twins and Seerka. Then finally there is Flario. Oh, and the Matron of the Temple is my aunt, but she can't be queen because she is the Matron."

"Matron?" Robin asked.

"Head of the Temple."

"Oh."

"Wow! The family reunions must be chaotic with all of those people!" Cyborg said, trying to steer the subject to reasonably happy waters. He failed.

"Actually, I never met any of them except the Matron." Raven admitted "My mother, Arella, didn't really want to see them that much. She never liked royalty, and she was not too fond of Nazlar in general. Probably understandable considering what happened to her. The ironic thing is she has some Nazlar blood as well. Her great-grandfather was one. So genetics wise I'm more Nazlar than I am human. Now can I please stop talking? My throat is going dry."

"Hey! I know what you need!" Beast Boy jumped up. "Some of that herbal tea stuff you like! Hang on, I'll get you some" He rushed out the door like a green whirlwind. Soon he was back with a steaming cup of Raven's favorite drink. He then abruptly shooed everyone out of the med lab, saying that Raven needed some time alone. Raven was grateful that Beast Boy was being so nice. She was not expecting that from him. She wondered if he would stay, but apparently Cyborg's talk had convinced him not to be so hovery (A/N is that a word? Well it is now!). After telling her about three times to call him if she needed anything, the young shape shifter left her alone.

Relived to be alone Raven sipped her tea and brooded a little bit. The dream was still fresh in her mind, and she did not like the implications of it. Was she really starting to have feelings for Beast Boy? She had to admit that he grown quite a bit in the time she had known him. When she had first met him he was just a skinny little boy who was barely out of puberty. A little squirt with all the intelligent of one of his own tofu burgers. Now…he was still a bit immature at times, but there were other times when he showed some adult qualities. He had grown quite a bit. He was no longer so scrawny. He was not a muscleman like Cyborg, but he had grown an inch or two taller than Raven herself. She had also noticed, when he had been close to her, he had little green hairs on growing on his chin. Soon the kid would have to start shaving his face, or grow a beard.

_Pretty soon we might have to start calling him Beastman or something like that. _She thought with amusement._ In a few years it will be obvious that he is not a boy anymore._

But she was getting of the subject. The real question was what did she feel for Beast Boy? She did consider him her friend, but was there anything else? Could there be anything else?

The fact was, she was not sure. After Malchior…and Sanath, she just did not know. She did not even know how she felt about Beast Boy. In the past she would have gone to Nevermore and talked to her emotions, particularly Love, but without her powers it was nearly impossible to go.

Besides she doubted that he felt anything but friendship for her. In a way the dream-Terra had been right. Who would choose an ugly Halfblood like her over a normal, not to mention pretty, human girl? Sure Terra was not around anymore, but Raven was certain that if Beast Boy started dating it would be with someone like Terra, not someone like her. Someone with normal looking hair and normal looking eyes and without any grey skin. Someone who was not so…creepy. How she hated that word! It was not like she set out to be dark and gloomy. She was dark because that was the nature of her demonic power, she was gloomy because she could not show emotion. There was no way a happy cheerful guy like Beast Boy would like her as anything more than a friend. She suddenly found that she was sad. Why she should be sad she did not know.

She decided not to worry about it, not now, maybe later, when she did not feel so drained. She did not realize it, but once again she was drifting off into sleep. But this time, thankfully, there were no dreams.

* * *

The next few days were quite. It was as if the entire villain community had decided to take a break from crime. Not once did the alarm ring. Robin was very glad for this. Raven needed time to recover, not just from her injuries, but from the trauma of having her powers literally ripped from her body. At first she had seemed fine, but Robin was still a bit cautious. He still remembered what Jinx had said about people who Sumal stole from, how they acted like zombies. He watched closely for signs of anything funny, and while there was nothing obvious, Robin did see some disturbing signs.

Raven had always been the quietest one of the group, but now she seemed almost lifeless. Robin noticed that she spent a lot of time starting blankly into space, and sometimes it was for hours on end. She was not sleeping to well either. Robin could see dark circles under her eyes. Robin was afraid that she was having nightmares and might not be getting enough sleep. Even though she was fully healed she point blank refused to train anymore. Robin knew a bit of psychology, and he was afraid that Raven was suffeign from post-tramatic stress disorder. He was no expert, but that was his fear.

Finally, after about four days of this Robin decided to have a talk with Raven. She was sitting on the Titan's couch staring out the window apparently at nothing. This was not good.

"Raven," he asked "why aren't you training anymore? Cyborg said you are fully healed. You should start training again."

"And what exactly would I train, Robin?" Raven asked, not looking at him "I have no powers, no special abilities. I'm just a normal girl now. I shouldn't even be here. I'm not a Titan anymore." There was more sadness in her eyes than Robin would never have imagined. Raven had always been a bit of a reluctant hero. He did not know that being a Titan had become so important to her.

"Raven I don't have any special powers either, but I do just fine. Maybe with a little training-"

Predictably the alarm went off at just that moment. At the moment Robin hated the thing with every fiber of his being. The other three ran in, followed by Kid Flash and Jinx. The two of them had asked to stay for a bit. Kid Flash claimed it was because they were a bit tired of traveling and wanted to rest for a while, but Robin had a feeling that Jinx wanted to be there for Raven. Perhaps it was because of the mutual relationship there fathers once had, or maybe it was because they were both magic users. Whatever the reason the two of them had stayed, and Robin was grateful. It was true that without Raven's powers they were significantly weaker. The fact was she was one of the most powerful people on the team. The two of them would be a great asset.

"It's robbery at the mall. Titan's Go!" Robin bellowed. They all followed the command, including the two newcomers. Except for Raven. She did not budge from the couch.

"Raven?" Robin asked, hoping to get her to show some life.

"I'll just be a burden. Go ahead." She said.

Robin wanted to stay; he wanted to help her somehow. She looked so sad and dejected. But he had a duty, and he could not ignore it. Promising himself that he would talk it over with Raven when they got back, he turned and left her alone.

Eventually Raven got bored with staring at the clouds and started wandering the halls. Sensing her sadness Mithrah followed her like a loyal hound. The big beast wanted to help her, but had no idea how. He knew that his mother had been badly hurt, even though her wounds were healed she was still hurting. He had no idea what was wrong with her, and that upset him greatly. Raven yearned to be with her friends, but she was afraid if she did she would be a burden. What if she got in the way? The Titans could spend all of their time looking out for her and not paying attention to the fight. It could end in disaster. She had to face it, without her powers she was useless.

_But that's not true, is it girl?_ A voice, strangely familiar, piped up from the back of her head. _Robin is not the only one who was trained in martial arts. _

She shook her head. She had not used those skills in years! She had most likely forgotten everything the General had taught her! She had focused on her magic for so long she had become dependent on it. Amused she realized that this situation had been exactly what the General had warned her against years ago. She should have listened to him, but it was to late now.

_You can't just sit here! You may not acknowledge it, but you are still half-Nazlar. Battle is in your blood! And you can't leave your friends alone! You may not have powers but you still have Whistler! Pull the thing out of your closet and use it!_

Whistler…it had been years since she used it, would it even obey her now? Well, it was worth a try. Better that wandering around with no clue. If she did not do something soon she would go crazy. She needed to help the others, or at least try to. Making up her mind she went to her room. She dropped to her knees and started searching under her bed for what she was looking for. Finally she pulled something out.

Whistler was a sword. In fact it looked very much like a claymore. It was large and heavy looking, but Raven seemed to have no trouble holding it. It seemed almost plain, but for the odd low whistle that it emanated. The metal looked like normal steel, but Raven knew better. The thing was magic, like a lot of things in her room were. It gleamed with sharpness; in fact it looked like it could cut through steel. It trembled in her hands all by itself, as if eager for something. The blade was sentient, though it did not actually talk back Raven could understand it pretty well.

"Whistler," she said "I've not used you in a long time, but I need you now. Do you mind?"

The blade hummed an affirmative. It wanted to be used. It yearned to be used. It did not particular care if the cause was just or not. Swords rarely care about that sort of thing. In fact it seemed to tremble in anticipation.

"Blunt yourself, I don't want anyone killed, understand?"

The blade trembled again, and did what it was told. In an instant the things razor sharpness had been dulled. It could still kill if you bludgeoned someone with it hard enough, but now it was a bit less deadly.

Now, how was she going to get downtown? She could not fly anymore…wait a moment! She could just ride Mithrah! She was pretty sure that she could control the horse well enough. Quickly she saddled Mithrah, who had sensed her intentions and was dancing eagerly. She climbed up into the saddle and rode him out of the tower, determined to help her friends.

* * *

Robin whacked the big moth creatures away with his bo staff, slowly getting more and more grouchy with every minute. Why did Killer Moth, instead of taking his disgusting daughter on a shopping spree like a normal father, he insisted on taking her on a stealing spree at the mall? Not only did they have to face the big insect-man himself, but they also had to contend with Fang, Kitten's spider headed boyfriend. Frankly Robin had enough of spiders after Riki, and he did not care to see more arachnids for some time. Darned ugly things!

It was chaos. The brainless blonde, Kitten, was going from store to store taking whatever she fancied from the selves. Following her was bug face, Fang, and they both were carrying bags filled with Kitten's stolen property. The only person who was actually fighting the Titans was Killer Moth himself and his fuzzy minions. There were a lot of minions, and while the Titans were doing well, they could not seem to get to the two robbers, as every time they got close a bunch of bugs would pop up in front of them. It was frustrating and Robin wanted this to be over, but at least the bugs did not multiply like the golems had. Leaping over several bugs Robin faced off with Killer Moth himself.

"Ever think that maybe you are spoiling that brat?" Robin growled.

"Call my daughter a brat again and I'll use you to feed my moths!" Killer Moth growled right back.

"Fang!" Kitten bellowed as if she were commanding a dog "I want everything in that jewelry store! Go fill up this bag!"

"No problem, babe" Ugly replied as he entered the jewelry store. Kitten grinned broadly.

Robin ground his teeth in frustration. He was so busy glaring at Fang and Kitten that he momentary forgot about Killer Moth. The mutant grabbed Robin and flung him to the ground, apparently still angry with Robin for calling his spawn a brat. The two glared at each other with hate. Suddenly Robin heard…hoof beats?

"RAVEN!" he heard Beast Boy call and then Killer Moth was knocked aside by a black and blue blur. Robin looked up and saw Raven mounted on Mithrah. And she had…a sword?

Raven whirled her horse around and shouted a command. Electricity burst from between Mithrah's horns to zap the moths. Within moments the creatures had been shocked into paralysis. Robin checked one; they had not been killed just stunned. Raven urged Mithrah towards Kitten, who was staring at the pair with big eyes. Raven pointed her sword at Kitten in a hostile way. Robin was sure that Raven would never actually skewer someone, but it looked good and threatening. Seemed to be intimidating Kitten nicely.

"Put the bags down and come quietly. Now." She growled and Mithrah lifted his lips exposing his sharp fangs for emphasis. Kitten squeaked and dropped her bags. Robin was grinning as he snapped some handcuffs on Killer Moth. Raven didn't need powers, just like he had always believed. She could get by without them.

"Get away from my girl you witch." Fang had returned from his venture into the jewelry store, and he had come up behind Raven. Robin thought he was angry, but it was hard to tell when you had a spider for a head.

Raven turned and froze. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the spider headed teen in front of her. Shaking she slide off Mithrah and started shrieking in horror. Robin was shocked. What was going on? Raven had never been afraid of Fang before. Why was she…of course! Riki! Her lost powers! The trauma of losing her powers combined with the fact that she had been in the presence of a huge spider must have caused her to develop arachnophobia. Robin knew that it was possible for a person who had undergone a severe trauma could develop a phobia to something that reminded them of the event. Losing a part of ones soul must have been a terrible ordeal. The sight of Fang's spider head must have sent Raven into a panic.

Hearing her screams and sensing her fright, Mithrah roared in anger. He knew exactly why his beloved mother was acting this way. This bug headed thing had done something to her! Determined to protect Mother, Mithrah sent his electric bolts toward the bug thing. It fell to the ground stunned. Mithrah pounced. Stamping and biting the big night horse was prepared to end Fang's pathetic life, but then he saw something green from the corner of his eye. Beast Boy had sifted to a green night horse and tried to communicate with Mithrah.

_"Stop! He's down, Mithrah! You don't have to hurt him."_

_"Look at what he did to Mother! No one hurts Mother!"_

_"Please stop!"_

_"Why should I? This creature is no friend of Mothers!"_

How do you explain to a wild night horse that it should not follow his instincts to kill? Beast Boy tried, but he knew that an animal did not understand morels like a human did. Fang had hurt Raven; therefore in Mithrah's eyes he should be killed. To the night horse it was that simple and perfectly black and white. Beast Boy could think of only one thing to say.

_"Believe me Mithrah, Raven would not like it if you killed for her. I know that you feel it is right, but will you please let Fang go? For Raven?"_

_"It makes no sense, but I do think I trust you. I will let the creature go. But only because you say that Mother would prefer it."_

Mithrah backed away from the prone Fang, who looked like a chewed up dog toy. Beast Boy, unable to see Raven trembling like that for much longer, gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder and started leading her away. The others could handle the criminals. He figured that if she did not see Fang than she would snap out of this. He could literally feel Raven's heart beating frantically and her body trembling. Her breath was coming in short gasps and he was afraid that she would start choking. He could tell she was having some sort of panic attack. Slowly, painfully slowly, she started calming down.

"You okay now?" Beast Boy asked still filled with concern.

"Fine." Raven said shortly. Beast Boy looked at her. She seemed very upset, but this time it was not panic. It was something else. Realizing whose arms were around her Raven shoved Beast Boy away, as if angry. She called Mithrah and mounted the night horse, not even bothering to wait for the others.

Beast Boy sighed. He could tell she was still very upset, but he did not know what to do for her. He shifted to hawk and followed Raven and Mithrah, determined to help.

Whether she wanted help or not.

* * *

"Beast Boy, it's impossible. Let's face it; I can't be a Titan anymore, not if I keep freezing like that."

"You're wrong, Rae! You were doing just fine-"

"Until Fang showed up, then I fell apart!"

Robin could hear the two of them fighting from all the way outside the hall. That was it! He had had enough! He was not going to let Raven fall into a depression! Not if he could help it! They were going to get their teammate back even if Robin had to bug her from morning to night. He went into the ops room with a determined look.

Raven and Beast Boy stood in the middle of the room, both looking determined and stubborn. The sword that Raven had with her at the fight was laying on the couch, gently thrumming to itself. Mithrah, deciding that Raven could handle this on her own, had curled up in a corner and was falling asleep.

Raven and Beast Boy apparently had not notice the fact that the others had arrived. They kept on arguing and fighting until Robin finally shouted:

"Enough you two! Stop arguing. Raven I-"

"Tell her she can't leave, Robin!" Beast Boy pleaded with his leader "Tell her she can still be useful!"

"Leave! No! Raven please do not leave us!" Starfire said, floating over to her friend with a concerned look on her innocent face.

"I have to, Star." Raven said turning away. She could not look at the alien's sad eyes. "Without my powers I'm useless and if I freeze like that again on a mission…" Raven shook her head. "I can't be a Titan anymore."

"Really, then what is this then?" Robin said, picking up the huge sword. It was very heavy. Robin wondered how Raven had managed to lift the thing. It thrummed uneasily in his hand, but Robin ignored it. Jinx stared at the blade with a thoughtful look. "You call yourself useless, but remember your birthday when you hit that piñata? You held that bat like a sword. Your stance was almost perfect. Someone taught you swordsmanship, didn't they? That's why you have this. You may not have powers anymore but maybe-"

"I haven't used that sword in years, Robin. I've probably forgotten everything I once learned." Raven said sadly.

"So I'll help you! I'm one of best martial artists in the world!" Robin said.

"Help me! How!?" Raven bellowed and everyone instinctively winched. They had gotten used to things blowing up whenever she got mad, and even though nothing happened the reaction was still there. Raven instinctively lowered her voice to a hiss. "You may be an expert in Earth martial arts, but you no nothing about Azarthian techniques."

"You're right, I don't. But I can still help you. Just let me try." Raven refused to look at him. "Raven, we need you." He said.

"Why would you need me?" she said.

"For one thing you are the only one on the team with common sense." Robin said

"And you may not have powers, but you know more about magic than any of us." Starfire added.

"Heck you know more then me!" Jinx piped up.

"Remember the time we were trapped in Mumbo's hat? Who was the one who got us out of it? You and you didn't use your powers." Cyborg joined in.

Kid Flash didn't say anything; he really did not know Raven to well.

"Raven, we don't care if you don't have powers." Beast Boy said "We still need you." _I need you._ He thought to himself.

"Just let us help you." Robin looked at his friend, practically pleading now. "Stop trying to do everything yourself and let us help."

Raven looked from person to person. Why did they care so much for her? It made no sense, but she knew that they meant everything they said. Once again she felt herself overwhelmed by their kindness. She knew then that she could never leave them, not at all. She noticed Jinx staring at the sword with an odd look on her face. Suddenly the sorceress snatched the blade from Robin's hand and stared closely.

"This…this is…Raven do you have any idea what you got here?" Jinx shouted.

"A magical elven claymore named Whistler." Raven stated.

"This is it! Raven this is the answer to our problem!" Jinx was bouncing up and down.

"What?" Raven gave her an odd look.

"You idiot! Don't you know your own sword's powers?" Jinx screamed.

"Of course I know! It's a sentient blade that can adjust its weight and sharpness and…" Raven slowed down as the same thing that had occurred to Jinx started occurring to her "and it can dispel all magic with its whistle! That's it!"

"Um, Jinx and Raven? No one understands what you are talking about." Kid Flash said "Could you translate please?"

"That sword, its called Whistler, can dispel magic. Meaning it can stop a spellcaster from casting." Raven explained.

"Meaning if we used it against Sumal we can stop him from casting spells, including the stolen ones!" Jinx said, excited. "We can use it to fight Sumal again and take Raven's powers back! Not only that but we can retake all the other powers he has stolen!"

"Awesome!" Beast Boy said with enthusiasm. It never occurred to him that it might be harder to woo Raven if she had her powers back. All he knew was that she was depressed and sad without them, and more than anything Beast Boy wanted to see Raven happy.

"Guess I'm going to need you to help me train with this thing after all, Robin." Raven said "If I'm going to face Sumal with this I'll need to relearn everything I forgot."

Robin nodded. Everyone was so busy planning battles and congratulating Jinx for her cleverness that they did not notice that one Titan was not as thrilled as he should have been. Deep inside Cyborg was grumping. He still disliked magic, and it looked like they were going to be dealing with it for a while. Personally he did not see why Raven would want her powers back. Without her powers she was free. Free to feel and love and be happy. Cyborg saw getting her those powers back akin to sending her to prison. He did not like it, but he said nothing.

At least not then.


	12. Chapter 12

An Author's note: In this chapter there will be pieces of lyrics from songs by an artist called Meat Loaf and also some from Phantom of the Opera, a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on a book by Gaston Leroux, a French guy. Anyone who does not know who these people are…just go on and type in the names and you can find out all about them. Yes I have bizarre taste in music (at least I am not making you suffer through the entire songs; you just have to suffer through bits of them). The Meat Loaf song is Bat out of Hell. I don't own Bat out of Hell, The Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Teen Titans or Meat Loaf (well, I do own C.D.s but I do not own the rights or any other legal stuffs from any of these people).

Vegeta247: Actually when I'm writing from a certain person's point of view, say Beast Boy, I try to write like I think they think. That's why I kept on giving his hormone weird titles every time I mentioned it, it seemed like something B.B. would say. So does hovery for that matter. I know it comes across as a bit odd, but that's how I like to do it. Oh, and reason I never respond to your letter before now is because I rarely check the e-mail. Don't have that many friends so there is always a blank when I check it oh, once a month. Just recently did I take a peek at the thing. Boy did I get a surprise when I saw fourteen new e-mails! I didn't realize the reviews showed up on an author's e-mail.

And I didn't know that my profile thingy was set up a certain way. I just discovered fan fiction in October (though I have not been able to stop ever since). I really did not use computers and the internet much because before now I did not have a computer in my room with internet capabilities. I always had to use my Dad's, and that was for research only. So…I really don't know how to work that profile thing. I basically just pushed buttons around and guessed. It's a minor miracle that I was able to figure out how to submit this in the first place. I'll fiddle with the profile for a while and see if I can get it to work. But it may take a while, because I really have no clue what I am doing…I guess if I just push the little button that says disable…hope it worked.

And as for Cy and Raven. I always thought that their relationship was strange. It's clear from the series that Cyborg sees Raven as a kind of sister, but she is coming from a magical fantasy type background while he is coming from a technological sci-fi type background. Most of the time these two things, tech and magic, are at odds. I think it would be natural for Cy to feel awkward about Raven's magic. Also since Cyborg is a pretty emotional guy he would naturally see having to suppress your emotions as a kind of trap.

Well, anyway, on with the show!

* * *

Chapter Eleven

To Azarath!

**"Not this again!" Raven moaned. She was back at the dream-castle. Once again she saw that the green Time symbol was lit up. She could see more of the dragon as well. She was a green dragon with matching emerald eyes. They were a deeper green than Beast Boy's and Starfire's, but it was still green.**

**"Hey! You are back!" the green-eyed dragon exclaimed. "It's been weeks, I thought something happened to you."**

**Still stinging from the recent memories of a certain other dragon, Raven turned her back on the green dragon and said. "I'm not talking with you."**

**"What! What did I do?"**

**"The last time I got involved with a dragon it did not end well."**

**"But you are a dragon!" The green one growled, but Raven did not acknowledge her. "Oh for the love of God!" the green one muttered. "Fine, be that way!"**

**Several minutes passed. The green dragon must have grown bored, because she started singing country songs. She did it well, but it was very grating to the nerves. For a while Raven tried to ignore her, but she just could not. After a while Raven could not stand it anymore.**

**"Shut up, what is your problem?" Raven whirled around.**

**A silence, then "Knew I could get you to talk again if I annoyed you enough." The green dragon said with a chuckle. **

**"Don't you know any good music?" Raven asked. Usually when she shouted at someone they shrank back in fear of her powers. This dragon just looked amused. How annoying!**

**Another silence, then:**

**Like a bat out of hell  
I'll be gone when the morning comes  
When the night is over  
Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone gone gone  
Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes  
But when the day is done  
And the sun goes down  
And moonlight's shining through  
Then like a sinner before the gates of heaven  
I'll come crawling on back to you **

**(A/N: Lyrics owned by Meat Loaf…I think, either that or a record company.)**

**"What was THAT?" Raven asked.**

**"Meat Loaf." The dragon said matter-of-factly. "Honestly, don't you have ANY culture?"**

**"Culture? That wasn't culture."**

**"It was if you lived in the seventies." The dragon retorted.**

**"I didn't ask I you knew seventies grunge rock! I asked if you knew anything good! A musical or something."**

**A third pause, then:**

**In sleep he sang to me  
In dreams he came  
That voice which calls to me  
And speaks my name **

And do I dream again?  
For now I find  
The Phantom of the Opera is there  
Inside my mind

**(Phantom of the Opera, owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber…I think. God I hope no one sues me! I don't own it!)**

**Raven snorted. "Okay, so you know what a musical is. At least you have some taste."**

**"Hmmp," the green snorted "Just don't expect me to hit the high ****C or anything like that. I just imitate better people! And Meat Loaf is not bad music. I'll admit the lyrics can be…questionable, but the man can sing!"**

**"Yeah right." Raven said doubtfully.**

**"Have you ever heard Meat Loaf before?" asked the dragon.**

**"No."**

**"Then don't talk. Unless you have experienced something you have no right to diss it Miss Priss."**

**"Stop calling me that! I have a name!" Raven was losing her temper.**

**"Well, I don't know it, now do I? The dragon pointed out.**

**"Well…that's true."**

**"Well if you don't tell me your name I'll be forced to call you something I make up." The dragon reasoned.**

**"My name's Raven." Raven said, finally going off the defensive.**

**"Really? My name is Malachi." The green dragon said.**

**"Huh? But-"**

**"I know, I know! Male biblical name for a girl is weird. But I have a good explanation! Ever heard of the Beastlords?"**

**"Yes."**

**"My father was a Beastlord, and my mother was a normal human. He gave me the weird name. You know they do that to distinguish themselves from humans, right?" Malachi said.**

**"You're half-Beastlord?" Raven asked. She had basically figured out that this must be one of the Dragonborn, a human with the powers of a dragon, but a half-Beastlord as well? She remembered that she was also a Halfblood. Was this a bizarre coincidence? Was it possible that SHE, Raven, could be Dragonborn? No! Not her! There had to be a different explanation!**

**All of a sudden she heard a familiar voice calling her, Robin.**

"Raven, come one get up!"

**"Wait! Hold on! I-"Malachi's voice echoed through Raven's mind, but she was already waking up.**

Raven opened her eyes. Someone, a certain Boy Wonder, was pounding on her door. Irritated at not being able to continue her discussion with the green dragon, Malachi, Raven threw her cloak over her shoulders and opened her door.

"What?" she snarled at Robin, not even bothering to hid her irritation.

"You wanted to train, didn't you? I thought we should get an early start." Robin replied. He was far to chipper about this.

"What time is it?" Raven asked.

"Five in the morning." Robin replied.

Raven stared at him for a long moment. "As soon as I get my powers back I'm going to send you to another dimension. A very, very nasty one."

Robin just grinned at her, the jerk.

As she followed her clearly insane leader, sword in hand, she pondered the dream. Something was strange about that conversation…wait! Didn't Malachi say she had not seen Raven in weeks? But the dreams had started the night after her birthday, which had been days ago, not weeks.

She frowned. What was going on?

* * *

Finally they had arrived at the Titan's indoor gym (you know, the one that Beast Boy trashed in the Beast Within.). This place had all the equipment need to train each Titan's individual powers, unlike the obstacle course outside, which was more like general training instead of specialized. She followed Robin to a set of gym mats, a sense of nostalgia coming over her. She had never trained in a gym, the General had always preferred to train outside, but she still felt a slightly familiar feeling.

"Ummm, okay, I guess we should start with the basics and go from there. We'll start with basic attack and defense. Which do you want to do first?" Robin said, looking distinctly nervous. Why he would be nervous was beyond Raven.

"Defense." She said.

"Okay."

It went something like this. Raven would bring her sword to the ready position and Robin would slowly attack her with his bo staff. She would deflect the blows with the sword as best she could. Robin noticed that she never actually tried to met him head on, she would always angle the blade so that the staff would slide off, deflecting instead of actual blocking. Robin had seen this kind of thing before, and it was perfect for someone like Raven who really didn't have that much arm power. If she tried to use pure strength she would be bound to lose, she just was too small to be powerful enough to completely stop a direct blow. But by letting the strikes slide off her blade she was effectively defending herself. (A/N: I've taken a few martial arts classes before, so I do sort of know what I'm talking about!).

He was impressed. For someone who claimed not to have used a sword in years she was actually very good. She was not one of those people that Bruce had called "naturals with a blade", but she was still very good. A bit rusty, maybe, but with a bit of practice she would get better. Whoever had originally trained her must have been a heck of a warrior. Robin could not help but wonder who it might have been.

After defense they switched to attack, in other words Raven would be the one attacking and Robin would defend. Then they spared a little bit, it was obvious from that that Robin was far superior to Raven, but that was to be expected. Robin had trained like this all his life, and Raven had obviously not trained with the sword for a while.

Finally they stopped, and Robin's curiosity got the better of him. "Who trained you?" He asked.

Raven shrugged uncomfortably and at first Robin thought she was going to tell him that it was none of her business, but then she looked at him with an odd expression. Some nostalgia with a bit of pride…and maybe some sadness.

"While the Temple priests are pacifists that does not mean that everyone who follows Azar is. The Warriors of Azar are a group dedicated to protecting the Temple priests. Unlike the Makhar they don't use magic, and there purpose is to protect the Temple, while the Makhar are supposed to wander around helping people. The leader of the Warriors is called the General, and the current one trained me." She shrugged again "In fact you could say that he raised me."

"Why?" Robin asked.

Another shrug "He knew Flario, heck he once trained Flario. And he's a friend of my mother's. She…was a bit ill after my birth, so the General kind of stepped up and helped her since my real father was a bit evil."

"So he trained you?"

"Yes."

"How come you never used that sword until you lost your power? Does it interfere with your magic?" Robin asked.

"No, Whistler is sentient, remember? Like I said before it can adjust its weight and sharpness at a command. It would not interfere with the magic of its wielder. The reason I never used it until now is because when I came to Earth my powers started steadily increasing as the time of Trigon's arrival came closer. I stopped using the sword because I was focusing on my magic entirely, to keep it under control. Actually I was trained to use both magic and the sword in tandem, but I felt that it was important to make sure I didn't randomly blow things up by accident." She gave the sword an almost affectionate look "When I get my powers back I just might have to go back to that fighting style. I kind of missed using Whistler." As if in agreement the sword let out a twang that made Robin jump.

* * *

For days Raven trained, but Robin was not the only one that lent a hand. Everyone pitched in to help her. Although Robin was the only martial artist, they all tried sparing with Raven at one point or another, if only to give her experience with different opponents. What thrilled Robin most about this was the fact that this training seemed to snap Raven out of her depression. While she still did not act as chipper as Star, she was still showing a lot more life than she had after her powers were lost.

Jinx decided that she would help by firing her hex bolts at Raven during practice, to see how well Raven's sword could dispel magic. As it turned out Whistler could block quite a few spells, but really powerful ones could break through its defenses.

"This is bad." Jinx growled when a particularly well placed bolt sent Raven into a wall. "A lot of Sumal's stolen spells are really heavy duty. We're going to have a problem if he breaks through Whistler's defenses."

"Is there a way to give that thing a boost?" Beast Boy asked, drawing from years of video game experience.

"If there is I don't know." Raven said, picking herself up with a groan.

Jinx's eyes light up "But I know who might know! Raven, think you could stand a trip to Earthtower?"

Raven grimaced "You know I hate that place, Jinx."

"Earthtower?" Cyborg asked.

"Kind of like a gathering place for cocky wizards." Raven said with some disgust.

Cyborg suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Bumblebee the day Raven had been abducted. "Wait a minute, is this the place that Bumblebee told me about? That magic club place?"

"How would Bumbl...Jinx! You told Bumblebee about Earthtower?" Raven looked at the other magic user.

"Well, yeah. I'm surprised you didn't tell them about it." Jinx said while jerking her thumb at the Titans.

"Jinx, for the last time. I. Hate. Earthtower. I hate it. How many times do I have to say it? Why would I tell my friends about a place I hate?"

"Raven, Jinx? No one knows what you are talking about again." Beast Boy piped up.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Earthtower is a kind of…magical neutral ground. Any wizard can go there unharmed, no matter if they are good or evil. It's hidden from normal people, and the place is filled with wizards of all types. I stayed there before I joined you guys, and it nearly drove me nuts."

"Why?" Starfire asked.

"Extreme inflated egos." Raven replied "You would not believe how narcissistic some wizard's can be. It's annoying, and I never liked it. You know how Mumbo Jumbo can get sometimes? Well, he is actually one of the better ones. He's an idiot, but at least he doesn't refer to people as "stupid mortals" all the time."

"Yeah, they can get annoying, but you know who lives at Earthtower, right? The one person who knows more about magical items than anyone else?" Jinx said.

"Mortical? The unicorn?" Raven asked.

"Right, and he's not one of the stuck up ones. He'll help. You know he's been wanting to get Sumal for a while." Jinx grinned her trademark insane grin, the one that made her look like a female version of the Mad Hatter.

"What is a unicorn?" Starfire asked.

"Think horse, then stick a horn on its forehead." Jinx said.

"That's a simplistic answer." Raven remarked. "She's right about their appearance, Star, but she is leaving out the fact that they are also some of the most powerful magical creatures of all time. They are also almost pure good and are experts at healing and other forms of white magic."

"So they're good guys?" Beast Boy asked.

"The best kind. They'll help just about any decent person they come across." Jinx said. "Raven I know you don't like Earthtower, but Mortical is too old to come here."

"You are right." Raven admitted. "Let's go then."

"Right now?" Beast Boy looked confused and startled.

"Might as well. The sooner we get to Earthtower the sooner we can leave." Raven said as she headed for the door.

"Um? Raven? Where are we going?" Cyborg asked with some fear. "Where is this place?"

"You'll see." Jinx said with an evil grin.

_

* * *

I never thought I'd be doing this. Robin thought __here I am in the middle of the forest, watching two magic users crawling around in the underbrush looking for a magic…place. I feel like such an idiot!_ Robin thought 

And that was exactly what Raven and Jinx were doing. They were crawling around in the underbrush with their ears pressed to the ground like a pair of badly stereotyped movie Indians looking for the deer.

"Why are you doing that?" Robin asked, trying not to sound like he thought they were nuts, even though he kind of did.

"Remember when I said that technology gives off a hum?" Raven said her head under a bush.

"Yes." Robin said.

"Well magic gives off a sound as well. It's kind of a bell like ring. That is what we are looking for." Came Raven's voice from the bush. She sat up to look at Robin "To get to Earthtower you have to find a magic tunnel that connects to it. They are a bit like magical subway systems. One of them is out in these woods. Unfortunately the thing moves around, which is why we are making fools of ourselves like this."

"Foooooooouuuuuuuuund it!" Jinx shouted gleefully.

"Oh, joy." Raven said with all the enthusiasm of one getting a root canal with no painkillers.

They all gathered around Jinx, who was sitting on a piece of ground that frankly did not look any different than the rest of the ground.

"Dude, this does not look very magical." Beast Boy said.

"It wouldn't be secret if you advertised it." Raven pointed out.

"Okay, gather round folks!" Jinx said gleefully. The Titans gathered around her as she placed her hands on the ground and said something that Robin assumed was magical. He was right, as the ground suddenly disappeared beneath his feet. At first he almost had a panic attack himself, but settled down when it was clear they were not falling, but floating. Looking around he saw that it did not look like they were going through the earth; it looked like they were sinking through a stream of bright purple light. He guessed it was some type of teleportation spell. Whatever it was it was beautiful. He felt someone gently take his hand, and looked over to the person. It was Starfire, her eyes alight with joy at the magnificent spectacle.

"Robin, is it not beautiful?" she said.

Robin did not realize that he now had a dopy lovesick grin on his face. "Yes, it is." He said, but he was not talking about the spell.

"Need a room?" Jinx said with a smirk. Robin choose not to respond to this, and he did not pull away from Starfire's hand.

Finally they…stopped? Landed? Whatever. At first all that Robin could see was that they were in a long stone tunnel. He followed Raven and Jinx, not at all minding that he was not in the lead. This was magic stuff, and he had no trouble letting the two magic users handle it. After a while he saw a golden light, and the Titan's emerged into a huge circular cavern. It looked like your normal average cave, except for the fact that it was obviously at least as big as Jump city. It was dominated by a huge tower that seemed to be carved from a connected stalactite and a stalagmite, a column. That must be were they got the name Earthtower. Entrances to different tunnels were everywhere around the walls of the cavern, and Robin noticed writing over each one. He guessed that must tell people were they would end up if they took that particular gate. So it was a bit like a subway system! It was impressive, but a look at Raven convinced Robin that they should not linger. She looked a bit tense.

"Aright, let's find that unicorn!" Robin said "Jinx?"

She nodded. And started leading them to the big structure. Robin was surprised not to find guards at the gates. But hey, no reason to complain! If they did not leave guards that was fine with him. He was not in charge of the place.

The interior was…strange. It looked like rock, but there was so much magic in the air that now Robin thought he could hear that bell ring that Raven had talked about. It was strange, but pretty. The place seemed deserted, which Robin found strange.

"Are we the only ones here?" he whispered.

"No, but wizards rarely get out to see the light of day. To busy reading things." Raven said.

"Just like you." Beast Boy said.

"Actually a lot more than me. I read often, but the people hibernating here can read a book for weeks at a time without food."

Beast Boy winced at the thought.

Finally, after a bunch of stone hallways that basically looked the same, Jinx stopped in front of a…it was not a door, it looked like a magical shimmering curtain.

"Hey Mortical! It's Jinx and I brought some friends." She said in front of the curtain, which fell away at her call.

"Come in!" said a strange sounding, but beautiful voice.

Robin entered to find a room in stark contrast to the rest of the place. It felt like he had stepped into another forest, but it was different. It had a feel to it that was simply wonderful. It was hard to describe, it was like he was looking at something unsoiled by human hands. But that was nothing to what he felt when he finally came face to face with the unicorn. He was just as Jinx had described him, a pure white horse with a single spiral shaped golden horn on his head. But this was not what was remarkably about the unicorn called Mortical.

Just as the child of Yog-Sothoth had an aura, so did the unicorn, but the unicorn's aura did not expel fear and bad feelings. The unicorn had an air of peace and tranquility and centuries old wisdom. In his presence Robin felt calmer than he had in a long while, and that was saying something as Robin was a naturally tense person. He could feel the others relaxing around him as well, even Raven.

"Welcome." The unicorn said "I've not seen you in a while, Jinx. And Raven as well! It has been so long since we last spoke."

"Sorry Mortical, but you know how much I hate Earthtower." Said Raven.

"I know. It is alright. It is too bad there are not many magic users like you and Jinx. Are these the Teen Titans? The ones you joined after you left this place?" Mortical stared at the others with calm gold eyes.

"Yes." Raven replied and introduced the others to the unicorn one by one. Once the introductions were done the unicorn spoke again.

"You did not come here for pleasure, I can tell. What troubles you Raven?"

Slowly, but with more openness than she usually would have, Raven told the unicorn the story from start to finish. Normally Robin would have been shocked to hear her, but the aura that radiated from the unicorn must have affected Raven. In fact, Robin himself felt like telling Mortical everything about himself. The magnificent creature just seemed so wise; Robin felt like he could be trusted completely. If anyone could have found the solution to this problem it would be this unicorn.

"So we thought that since you know so much about magic items that maybe you knew how to increase Whistler's power." Raven concluded.

The unicorn sighed, a sound that should have sounded like a horse, but somehow seemed very human. "Unfortunately that is nearly impossible. Whistler's power is that of dispel, any magical enhancements would not work."

"So, it's impossible?" Said a dejected looking Beast Boy.

"Listen more often, young one, I said nearly impossible, not totally. There is one thing that can help you. Raven, do you know of the legend of the Truehope blade?"

"Yes, it was a sword that existed a thousand years ago. Like Whistler here it was sentient, and could think for itself. It was destroyed in battle with an evil beast long ago. What does it have to do with this? I know it was supposed to be powerful, but it was destroyed." Raven said.

"The blade was destroyed, but the soul inside was not. Truehope was not just sentient, it possessed a soul all its own. If you were to find the soul of Truehope and if it found you a worthy bearer, it would pass its powers onto Whistler."

"What would that do?" asked Cyborg with a doubtful look.

"If Truehope were to merge with Whistler than it would greatly increase Whistler's own abilities as well as giving it Truehope's own magic." Mortical replied.

"Where is this…soul of a sword?" asked Starfire.

The unicorn seemed to smile "Azarath." He said. "Past the Great Desert in the Demonfang Mountains is a monument dedicated to Guardian Beasts. In this monument also lies Truehope's soul." He fixed Raven with a look. "I believe you can find your way?"

"Yeah, I've never been to the Demonfang mountains, but I know the way there." Raven said. She then seemed to think for a moment.

"Looks like I'm going home." She said, but no one, not even Mortical could tell whether she was happy about this, or sad.

They turned to leave, but Mortical spoke up again "Robin? Beast Boy? Can you two stay here for a second? I have something I need to say to you both."

The two of them looked at each other and shrugged. Neither saw anything wrong with it, so they stayed. Mortical approached Robin and touched him gently with his horn.

"Listen, I know you have been inquiring into Raven's past."

"Sir," Robin said, feeling like he was in front of the principle of the school for a moment "I just-"

"Do not worry; I am not saying you should stop. Quite the opposite. You must find out more about Raven's past, but not just hers. You must learn more about Flario as well. It is important."

"How and why are you asking me to do this?" Robin asked.

"You are a detective, so I know you can find out. I cannot tell you exactly why, but I can say this. She needs to realize that Trigon and her father are not the same person."

"I'm not sure I understand, but I'll try." Robin said.

"Thank you, now I must speak to Beast Boy alone." Mortical said.

Robin nodded and left, trusting the unicorn's words completely.

"Beast Boy." Mortical said when Robin was gone. "I know how you feel about her. I could see it in your soul."

Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably. But he listened to what Mortical said closely. Usually he would have interrupted, but something stopped him.

"No matter what happens between you two, remember this." the unicorn said gently "The demon inside of her will never truly die, but that does not mean you should be discouraged. Love can change the rage inherent in a demons mind and make it tame. Remember that, and also remember that her scars run deeper than you think."

"What scars?" he asked quietly.

Mortical lowered his horn and pointed it toward Beast Boy's heart. It looked like an aggressive stance, but Beast Boy knew that it was not. This was just a unicorn's way of pointing.

"The ones inside her soul." He said.

Beast Boy nodded, understanding. He knew how sensitive Raven could be, even though she tried to be strong. He knew that she could be easily hurt again. He did not want to do anything to hurt her again.

"Mortical" he asked "do I have a chance with her? I mean, does she feel the way I do?"

"Beast Boy, Raven is one of the few people I cannot read that well. I do not know if she sees you the same way. You will have to find the answer to that yourself."

Beast Boy nodded, and turned to leave. He was more determined than ever to win Raven now. The unicorn said that Love could tame the demon inside her! That meant she could feel love without fear of hurting someone! There was hope for them, even if she did not yet know how he felt for her.

_I swear to you, Rae, I'll be the one to tame your demon, just like you tamed mine!_

* * *

An Author's note: Now we get to the fantasy parts. Told you they would be there! Stay tuned! 


	13. Chapter 13

An Author's note: And now, my original tale of how Azarath came to be, what it really is, and who the heck is Azar! Oh, and I'm going under the assumption that Azar was female. You really can't tell form the name what the gender is, so I guessed (through the brilliant coin method!). It is probably so far off what happened in the comics that it will not be funny, but hey, this is originality, people!

Oh, remember back in chapter eight when I said I might be visiting grandmother for Christmas? Turns out the date was pushed to this week. I'll be going on fourth of January and be back on the fourteenth. So don't panic when I don't update with my usual frequency. I just learned that no she does not have internet. On the upside when I return to civilization I will update any and all chapters I write during this period. That is if I get any done without her trying to "improve" them (everybody! Shiver in horror at that prospect! It's not good!).

On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Home

"You are not coming with me." Raven stated firmly. She was standing in front of her door after packing a small bag for her trip. Mithrah had been saddled as well, it was clear she was taking him with her. She had emerged to find her four friends and Jinx standing at her door, also ready to go.

"Yes we are." Robin said with his best I-am-the-leader-so-obey-me voice. It never really worked on Raven, for some reason. She glared at all of her assembled friends…and Jinx. They all had determined looks on their faces. It was clear she was not going to get far without getting past them.

"Robin, this is Azarath, not Tokyo. It's a purely magical dimension. Cyborg, how do you expect to survive there? What if you lose power? They don't have computers, they don't even have typewriters!"

Cyborg grinned and pulled out a small cylindrical device. "I made this portable power source, Rae! Complete mobile and state of the art! Enough here to last me a year!"

Okay, he had her there, but she kept trying with the others. "Beast Boy, Azarath does not have tofu. How will you eat?"

"Salads." Beast Boy said simply. There was no WAY she was going to leave him. If he had to live off carrot sticks he would stick by her side.

"Star-"

"No matter what you say I am coming, Raven. You are my friend and I will not leave you to face this alone." Her expression, usually so gentle looking, was now completely and utterly determined. Even Raven could tell that she would not be swayed.

"Robin, what about your duty to the city," she was sure she would get him here "what happens if Slade attacks and you are out playing in the Azarathian fields?"

"Kid Flash is staying, and some of the other honorary Titans have agreed to keep an eye on the city for us." Robin said. He did not even twitch at the mention of his arch nemesis.

"And don't even try to convince me not to go!" Jinx said "You're going to Azarath. Azarath! I always wanted to go there, and now I have a good reason."

"I don't need your-"Raven started, but Robin cut her off.

"Don't even start with that 'I don't need your help' garbage!" Robin grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her a little bit, not violently, but still firmly. "You always do this every time you are in trouble. You start with these I don't need anyone attitude and you go off and try to handle everything yourself. Not this time! I'm tired of standing back while you try to go and do everything yourself. We are your friends, Raven. It's time you stopped being so selfish and let us help."

"Selfish!" she almost screamed.

He went on as if he did not hear her. "When one of us has a problem who is always there for us? You are. But you never let us be there for you. That's not going to happen now. We are going with you even if I have to handcuff you to Beast Boy to keep you with us!"

Raven glared at him. She could tell that this was a battle she was not going to win. Admitting defeat, she looked down at her feet she muttered something that might have been the word "Fine." Accepting that for what it was, Robin let go of Raven and smiled at her.

"So, when are we leaving?" he said.

"Now, since I can't teleport anymore we'll have to take a different route to get there. But we have to get there by noon. Unless you want to wait for midnight?"

"Huh?" Cyborg looked confused.

Raven signed. Honestly, did she have to explain everything? "Right below this tower is a portal that can lead us to Azarath," she said "but in only opens at noon or at midnight. Some sort of weird magical rule."

"Oh." Cyborg still looked a bit puzzled and he had a feeling that he would be getting more puzzled for the entire trip "I'll bring up the T-car and-"

"No cars." Raven said with a scowl.

"What! Why not?" Cyborg looked appalled.

"One: because the car won't fit in the hole we have to go down. Two: no gas stations. Three: there is no way you are letting that gas-guzzling thing into my nice pollution free dimension." Raven replied as she started walking down the hall toward the elevators.

"Hey! My baby doesn't guzzle gas!" Cyborg objected loudly, but Raven paid him no attention. "I don't believe this! She gets to bring her vicious, bloodthirsty horse with her and I have to leave my baby!"

Cyborg grumbled and grumbled, even when they had exited the tower he was still grumbling. No one paid that much attention to him. They were to busy wondering what Raven's homeland was like. They had already seen Starfire's home, but no one really had any clue what Azarath would be like. Would it be as dark and foreboding as Raven herself was? What exactly was a magical dimension like? And for that matter how were they getting there?

The answer to the last question came when Raven approached a large bush that grew against the side of one of the seaside cliffs near their home. She gently pushed the bush aside to revile a cave. She was right about the T-car, it would never have fit through this hole, and in fact it was barely big enough for Cyborg himself. The cave looked dark and nasty, so Cyborg switched on his shoulder light. Raven went in first, followed by Cyborg so she could see where she was walking. Mithrah was beside them, growling at Cyborg in warning at various intervals. Then came Robin, Beast Boy, Jinx and Starfire took up the rear. After a moments thought she lit up her own hand with her starbolt energy, for better visibility.

As they walked in the darkness the unicorn's words came back to Robin. Finding out more about Raven's past would be difficult, because of her closed nature, but he thought if he handled it right he could do it. Maybe he should start now, but with a question that was not to intrusive.

"Raven?" He began "What exactly is Azarath, anyway? You keep saying it's another dimension, but I don't really understand what you mean."

For a long moment there was silence, and Robin was afraid that she was simply going to ignore the question, but then she spoke.

"You know what a binary planet system is?"

"It is two planets that orbit each other around a common center of mass not within either planet." Starfire said, confusing Beast Boy and Jinx, neither of whom where science majors.

"Well, Azarath is kind of magical binary planet with Earth. The place is literally right next to us, like the moon, but you can't see it with radar or scanners because it is placed just a bit off of this Earth's spherical border."

"Earth's…what?" Robin asked, now completely confused.

Raven sighed "Let's just go with the fact that it is closer to Earth than you think, alright? I really don't want to try to explain magical theory right now. I'll just tell you how Azarath came to be. Rember back at the musem when you asked me about the Purging, Cyborg?"

"Yeah." He replied.

"Well, the Purging was a period in magical history when the Order of Scath tried to drive of the independent magic users of Earth, and any magical creature that did not follow them. They were basically trying to "purge" the world of anyone who did not worship Trigon as they did. Opposing them was Azar, one of the last First Dragons to live here. She had many followers as well, and they opposed Scath along with her. And no, he was not in Flario's body at that time, then he was in the body of a huge sea serpent.

I'll not go into every single detail, but basically over time Trigon's followers turned most of the normal people of the world against magic users and magical creatures. Fearing extinction they begged Azar to send them away to another dimension. You see they had been fighting Trigon for a long while, and even the most violent among them wanted peace.

One of the most ancient and powerful artifacts the First Dragons left behind were the Worldgates, a system that allowed the Dragon's access to each and every world they had ever been to. Azar proposed to send the refugees through this planet's Worldgate. Unfortunately Trigon got wind of the plan, and attacked Azar just as she was opening the gate. The two items necessary to open the gate were destroyed and gate was closed forever.

Azar was pretty old at the time, long past the age where she should be fighting, but she knew if she did not than the people gathered around her would be murdered by Trigon, so she fought to defend them. She managed to destroy his sea serpent body, and banished his spirit to the Demon Dimensions, where she hoped he would be trapped for all time. She was wrong, but it worked for a while.

However, during the battle she was mortally wounded, and was dying. The Order of Scath was still determined to destroy those who opposed them and she knew that the people she had saved were still in danger. With her last breath she…darn I don't know how to explain this! She used her own soul to create a new dimension connected with Earth for the magical beings to live in peace, Azarath."

"How…how did she do that?" Beast Boy asked his eyes wide.

"I'm not to sure. People say that dying First Dragons can do amazing things at the time of their deaths. It's not something that most people understand, so I'm not even going to guess at it." Even in the darkness they could see Raven shrug.

"So Azarath was created from a dragon's soul?" Robin asked.

"Yes." Raven replied.

A long silence, then Cyborg asked. "What happened to the Order of Scath?"

Raven grinned sarcastically "They were destroyed by a new religion, Christianity. Strangely enough the Spanish Inquisition actually managed to do some good, even though they killed a lot more innocent people than they did evil ones."

Nothing more was said as the others pondered this particular irony.

(An Author's interruption: Yes I am a Christian. No I do not approve of the Spanish Inquisition. I just thought it would be a cute irony if I put that in here.)

* * *

Finally after a few hours walking around in a dark cave amongst the bats they finally arrived at a circler chamber with a large silvery pool of water in the middle. Robin guessed that this was their destination. It looked mystical enough. He was relived. The only good thing about a cave was the bats. Robin had a special reason for liking bats. He had seen several of the cute little things, harmless fruit bats, on the way there (A/N: no matter what anyone tells you bats are cute! Bats are nice! I love bats. Bats eat a certain bloodsucking insect that spreads malaria; you know what I'm talking about! Now Batman is not my favorite superhero, but I love the creatures he is named after.). In his eyes it was always good to have a few bats around. However he could tell that there were no bats roosting in this part of the cave. They must know something he did not.

"Cyborg what time is it?" Raven asked.

"11:50" he replied, checking the clock on his arm.

"Okay, everyone gather around the pool. In ten minutes the portal will activate and we'll be pulled into Azarath. Nobody struggle or try to fight it. It won't do any good and you will just hurt yourselves."

Robin approached the pool, looking into it with fascination. He could see his reflection and the reflections of his friends in the deep pool. It looked bottomless, and just a bit ominous, but at the same time beautiful and entrancing. Again Robin wondered what Azarath would be like. He did not have long to wait. Suddenly the pool's calm waters began to swirl like a whirlpool, slowly at first, but faster and faster as the minutes passed. Then the water burst up from the pool in a huge swirling column that stretched to the ceiling. The water ran along the ceiling, then the walls, the pushed the Titans into the icy depths of the whirlpool.

It felt like a giant hand had gripped Robin and was pulling him through the water portal. He tumbled and rolled and twisted as the water rushed him toward Azarath. He tried to follow Raven's instructions and go with the flow, but soon the instinctive fear of drowning set in. Desperately he tried to at least right himself, but soon he felt something hit him on the head, and he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Robin groaned. He could feel the sun on his face and grass beneath him, but he was a bit confused from the blow to his head. He guessed that he was alive, even though his head felt like Cinderblock had sat on it. He felt…a weight on his chest. He opened his eyes and stared into the gentle brown orbs of…

A squirrel?

"You idiot." Said a familiar voice. Robin looked over and stared at Raven. She was giving him a disgusted look. All around her were various small animals. Birds, mice, squirrels, weasels, cats, and a few others. Some of them were even perched on top of her. She didn't seem to mind them, and acted like this was a common occurrence.

"Next time I tell you to do something when it has to do with magic pay attention." She growled. "You could have gotten yourself killed, not just hurt."

"Raven? Why is there a squirrel on my chest?" Robin asked, not paying attention to her scolding.

"My mother. She's a Beasttalker. She makes friends with animals. These are some of them." Raven shrugged, sending the little sparrows that had perched there fluttering.

Robin looked at the squirrel, which cocked its head and chattered at him. "Umm, how do I get him off?"

Raven rolled her eyes and shooed the squirrel off Robin's chest.

"Where are the others?" he asked as he climbed to his feet.

Raven pointed behind them. Robin turned and saw the rest of his team…playing with the animals. Jinx was stroking a cute little fawn with a look on her face that Robin had never seen before. It was the type of look that all girls get when faced with sheer cuteness. Beast Boy had turned into a wolf cub and was playfully wrestling with some real wolf cubs. Cyborg was feeding grubs to a pair of sleepy looking badgers, and Starfire was holding a huge skunk and was petting it like you would a cat. Robin's mouth dropped open as he looked at all of this. They were supposed to be a superhero team, not kids at a petting zoo!

"Taking up a fly collection?" Raven asked. Robin closed his mouth.

Starfire was the first to notice that Robin was awake. She bounded over to him, the skunk still in her arms.

"Oh, Robin! Is this not the most adorable little creature! Robin what is wrong?" Robin jumped away from his girlfriend, his eyes glued on the skunk.

"Star, that's a skunk!" he said.

"Oh stop that." Raven rolled her eyes. "That's Thorn. I used to play with him when I was little. He won't spray you."

Robin was not convinced. He stared at the little black and white thing, who looked right back at him and yawned. Robin noticed the way Starfire was gazing at the skunk, and he did not like it.

"Robin," she started "can we-"

"Star, we are not taking that skunk with us!" he said with an appalled look. First worms, then horses and now skunks? It was not going to happen.

"He is right we are not." Raven said firmly "Star, that skunk is one of my mother's familiars, we are not taking him back to the tower. Familiars should stay with the people they are connected to."

"Oh," she said, disappointed "Still he is very cute."

"I suppose he is." Raven said with an odd look in her eyes. It looked like…guilt? And sorrow? "Well we better get going. And bring Thorn, Arella will want him back." She said and she did not look at the skunk again.

"Um, where are we going?" Cyborg asked.

"The Temple. It's not far from here." Raven replied as she started walking away, Mithrah trotting beside her. Robin and the others followed her, taking a moment to survey the scenery. Robin had expected a dark and dreary place, but what he was actually in was big forest. He could even see a nice bright sun out peeking through the treetops. It had almost the same feel as the one that the unicorn had lived in, an untouched and unspoiled feeling. He could not help but like the place.

"Careful of the edges." Raven said.

"What edges?" Robin asked, and nearly fell over one himself. At one point the trees and the grass and the earth itself just kind of…stopped. At first Robin thought he had reached a cliff, but then he looked over the edge and saw nothingness. A gigantic void that was completely black and empty except for stars (A/N: think Nevermore, only with sunlight and none of Raven's emotions running around.).

"That" Raven pointed downward "is the Void. When Trigon came inside Flario's body he caused a lot of damage. He created huge holes in Azarath itself. The place is still kept together by magic, but if you fall you'll end up going down forever. Be careful."

Robin gulped. The possibility of falling into THAT did not appeal at all. He would defiantly have to watch were he stepped.

Raven walked along the edge toward what looked like a big bronze bridge. Robin saw that it connected to an asteroid shaped and sized rock with a city on it. A huge building dominated the place. The whole city looked like it was made out of bronze. Robin was impressed. Was this where Raven had been raised?

"Raven? Is that?" he asked.

She nodded "Yes, that's where I was born."

* * *

Cyborg was in awe. This place was cool! The buildings were just as big as the ones in Jump city, but they looked as if they were all made from bronze instead of concrete! Did magic make all of this? The thought made him both uncomfortable and impressed at the same time.

The city itself was nice, the people inside the city…that was a whole other story. For one thing Cyborg had never seen so many different races in the same place at the same time. People with horse bodies and the upper portions of a human (Centaurs), people with the head of bulls (minotaurs), short little guys with goat legs (satyrs), thing with the head, wings and talons of an eagle but the body of a lion (griffins), bipedal bird people (made them up, no name for em yet), cat people, dog people, people with pointy ears (elves), small guys with beards (dwarfs) and even some normal looking humans. It was not the strangeness of the people's appearance, however, that made Cyborg a bit angry, it was their attitudes. To be specific it was the attitudes directed towards Raven.

Now a few people seemed nice. They kind of nodded at her, said how nice it was to see her again and walked off without really looking at the others or commenting on their presence. A few simply nodded at her politely. However, there were a few of them who literally crossed the street to avoid her, and most of them had disgusted looks on their faces, as if they were looking at a dog that had just peeded the carpet. Cyborg's mechanical hearing picked up some really nasty comments as well, even though the people making them were whispering. Said comments went something like this:

"Filthy half-breed, what is SHE doing back here?"

"Trigon's bastard, why did she come back?"

"The Matron was a fool to let that THING live!"

Cyborg's big metal hand balled into a fist. How dare they say those things about Raven! As if she didn't have it hard enough! He wanted to go up to some of those jerks and teach them a lesson and right now. And Cyborg was not the only one who heard the whispering and wanted to do something about it. Beast Boy looked ready to shift back into the Beast and tear someone up. His ears were laid back like an angry dog's. He was grinding his fangs and his eyes burned with anger. Raven noticed this.

"Don't pay attention to them, they aren't worth it." She said to both of them.

"Don't pay attention! Do you know what they are calling you?" Beast Boy stared at her, still angry.

"Talking does not bother me, just as long as they don't go into a mob." She said. "I've heard all of this before."

Far from making him calm, this statement instead made Cyborg all the angrier. How much of this did she put up with before she came to Earth? The need to hit some of those jerks was almost overwhelming, but he did not succumb to it. He didn't want to get in trouble with the local authorities, even though secretly he thought that it might be worth it.

Finally they came to the gates of the huge building in the middle of the city. Cyborg assumed that this must be the Temple. It was certainly big enough. At the gates were two armored guards who looked extremely bored about their jobs. On of them was human, while the other looked a bit like a two legged human sized weasel. The human paid them no attention, but the weasel guy smiled, at least Cyborg hoped it was a smile.

"You're back Raven! Welcome home. Who are these people?" the weasel guy said.

"These are my friends, the Teen Titans. I've been working with them since I left. Care to let us in, Orlus?" Raven replied.

"No problem." Orlus nodded, then a look of concern crossed his face. "Although you probably should not stay long. Dralor has been getting more and more upset with your actions by the day. He's not here now, but…" the weasel guy trailed off and gave Raven a significant look.

"So he still hates me?" Raven asked. Orlus nodded. "Should have expected that. Oh, well, we should be gone by the time he gets back. Where is the General?"

"Where he usually is at this time of day." Orlus said as he opened the big gate "Nice to see you again, Raven!"

"Friend of yours?" Cyborg asked.

Raven shrugged. "Not really. We trained together a little bit. He's okay, but I don't know him that well. He's more like an acquaintance. We know each other but we are not close."

The inside of the fenced compound looked like a grassy park. Randomly dotting it were large trees, not enough to make a forest. There were just three or four of them, but they were pretty big.

Cyborg heard the sound of metal clanging against metal. They were approaching a small circular dirt field. Inside the dirt field was a group of young people apparently practicing swordsmanship, and they did not seem to be doing to well. Standing outside the circle was a tall skinny looking guy with sharp pointed ears and a disgusted expression. Cyborg had been around enough coaches to recognize that this guy was one, and the people he was training were not living up to expectations.

Raven walked up behind the coach guy and said "Wow, how many years have you been trying to train Yurel over there? And I've been away for how long? Either you are losing you touch General, or that boy is just dumb."

The General looked at Raven from the corner of his eye. "Hmm, is that a ghost talking to me? Must be; after all Raven is supposed be dead. That's what everyone kept telling her for years. Or can it be that the idiot General was right instead of the high and mighty priests?"

"You don't have to rub it in." Raven growled.

"Oh yes I do. I'll be rubbing it in every time I see you from now on." The General said. His voice kind of reminded Cyborg of Slade's, but it did not have the evil menace in it. It was just a calm, cool voice that didn't sound like it was easily agitated. It was what Slade would have sounded like if he was not so evil.

The General finally seemed to notice the others. He looked at them as if evaluating them for weaknesses. "Who are these…Earth people?" he asked Raven.

"The Teen Titans, my friends." Raven said.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" The General raised an eyebrow, for a moment looking exactly like Raven herself when she made that particular gesture. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"I believe I said friends. You're not losing your hearing are you?"

"Let's see, and you once said you would never have more than three friends. Here I am counting five of them." The General gave Raven an amused look.

Raven opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a voice that said "It's that half-breed again! What are you doing here, half-breed? Come to finish the job daddy started?"

Raven winched, and the General stiffened in anger. He turned to the owner of the voice, one of the people he had been training and snarled "This is not your conversation, Yurel. Stay out of it."

"I just wanted to know why she is showing her ugly face here again. Dirty little bastard half-breed shouldn't-"

Cyborg and Beast Boy had had enough. Both of them shouted in anger and then punched Yurel in perfect tandem. The guy went flying, and might have made it all the way to the other side of the city if the wall had not been there. Unfortunately he was wearing armor, so he was not hurt to badly. In fact, now he was mad at Cyborg and Beast Boy, as well as insulting towards Raven.

"That was not fair, they ganged up on me and laid a sneak attack-"

"And do you expect every opponent to nicely tell you when they are about to strike? You are a fool, Yurel, and this proves it. Why I even bother with you I will never know." The General shook his head in disgust.

"You two! I challenge you!" the insulted young man bellowed and pointed at Cyborg and Beast Boy. "Let's see how you Earth scum do in a fair fight!"

"Bring it on Captain KKK!" Beast Boy said, driving his left hand into his right fist.

"Wow, that one was actually somewhat amusing." Raven said in perfect monotone.

"If that was his best I would hate to hear the worst ones." The General replied in the exact same monotone. Raven nodded.

Yurel picked out a wooden sword and squared off with his two enraged opponents. Cyborg decided to be nice and let the moron make the first move. He discovered that, while Yurel used the same style as Raven did, he was not even close to as skilled as she was. After fighting with Raven for a few days Cyborg was familiar with this way of fighting, and he knew that he could kick this guys butt, even if he had only been fighting with one arm and no legs. With Beast Boy by his side there was no question that they would win.

It was, in fact, very sad. First Cyborg gave Yurel a shove, and then Beast Boy turned into a kangaroo and kicked him back to Cyborg who would shove their victim back to Beast Boy. They repeated this pattern until Cyborg grew bored, then he grabbed Yurel in a headlock and dragged him around the dirt circle with Beast Boy biting at his legs in the form of a wolf. Then Cyborg rearranged Yurel's face with great joy, while Beast Boy gently chewed on his arms.

"Hmm, absolutely no elegance or grace at all in their styles, but still they are so effective." The General said.

"You should see them when they are not playing around." Raven replied.

In the end Yurel was tossed out of the dirt circle, not really damaged, but so bruised and battered that he could not move. Cybog and Beast Boy left the circle, dusting off their hands with satisfied expressions on their faces. Beast Boy paused for a moment and leaned down to look at his fallen foe.

"And the next time you insult Rae like that, I'm going to show you why part of my name is 'Beast'" He then lifted his lips exposing his fangs, leaving no doubt to what he meant. No one was dumb enough to mistake that for a smile, Beast Boy was bearing his fangs and everyone knew it.

He approached Raven, a look of both pride and trepidation on his face. Pride in the fact that he had struck back at one of her tormenters, trepidation because he had a feeling that she would not like being treated like a damsel in distress. Raven for her part was confused. This was the first time anyone had done something like this for her. She did not know what to do about this. For some reason she felt pleased that Beast Boy had tried to protect her, but she had no idea why this thought sent little tendrils of joy throughout her entire body. She stared into Beast Boy's eyes and felt a sudden urge to hug him, or kiss him…

Or…

But before either of them could say anything one of those goat legged people ran up with an excited look. He ran straight up to Raven and panted "High Priestess Raven?"

She nodded. She knew what this person was. A messenger from the Council. The thought made her stomach churn.

Just as she thought, the messenger's next words were "the Council wants to see you."


	14. Chapter 14

An Author's note: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack! Did you guys miss me? Unfortunate I didn't get any writing done at my grandmother's at all, due to the fact that she does not have the three pronged plugs that my laptop, the Clunker, needs in order to perform. So, I didn't get what planned to get done. Oh well, at least I got home early!

Oh, and hello to my two new reviewers: El Queso de Malicioso (hereafter referred to as The Cheese, because that is the way the review was signed and it is easier on my spell-check) and Gaxe a guy from…Sweden? Wow. Never thought that I would go international, and I haven't even published an actual book yet! How cool is that!

Vegeta247: I know that I got a bit out of character a bit with Robin on that last chapter. Heck that was actually me talking through the entire sequence (or what I would say to Raven if she were real). I mean COMEON! She is so darned fatalistic and stubborn! You can't tell me that there were times in the series when you just wanted to shake her and tell her to get a life, especially during the Trigon thing! Now, she is my favorite character (obviously) but the girl needs to take care of that low self-esteem problem she has! Oh, and the part about Beast Boy "gently" biting was actually sarcasm, I guess you can't tell from a computer, though.

It's so nice to be home! Funny how a little shack in the woods can feel so modern with the satellite and the internet connection all installed, while a house in the city (grandma's) can feel like the howling wilderness without the TV and the internet. Or maybe that was just homesickness. I missed my computer! I missed my cats! I missed my dogs! Heck I even missed those evil mutant frogs in the pond outback (and believe me, those frogs are SCARY! I swear they glow in the dark!).

Now…where did I leave off? Oh, yes, I remember! On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

The Council

_I should have known I would not be able to get out of here without taking to them first!_ Raven thought to herself. As Makhar she had every right to blow the Council off, but that would be a bit on the rude side, not to mention very disrespectful. While they ground her nerves there was no technical reason why Raven should ignore them, and she knew it too. It was always a good idea to at lest try to keep on good terms with the people who technically outranked you. Even though Makhar were allowed to walk out of Council meetings whenever they wished, or could even not attend at all, it was better not to abuse the privilege in case it was needed later.

"General, mind telling me who is there?" she asked.

"Three at the moment. Sasssumal, Croena, and Flass." He said "The Matron is out with Dralor. They're with Twainisa. She finally finished her training just last week."

"Really? That's great!" Raven said. Other than Hadiran Twainisa had been one of Raven's only real friends in the Temple. The female centaur was a bit on the bookish side; in fact she was a bit like Raven in her love of books and all things that involved literature. Twainisa had been training to work in the Temple library, a job that Raven herself had considered briefly, but discarded due to…events. Still, Twainisa had been close to Raven, and it was nice to know that she had accomplished her goals. Raven wished she could stay for a bit, if only to talk to her old friend, but when she came back she would be coming with Dralor. Raven was not sure if Dralor really would take out his threat of killing her, but she did not want to take the risk.

"Better go talk to them." She muttered, referring to the Council. "Let's see if I can get out before nightfall."

For the past few minutes the General had been looking at Raven with a puzzled expression. There was something different about her, but for a moment he could not place it. Then he realized what it was. It was the chakra stone on her forehead. Normally it was red, but now it was a dull grey. What could have happened to make it do that?

"Raven," he said "what happened to your chakra?"

"Can I tell you that while we walk? You see what happened was-"and Raven started telling the General the entire story as they both headed toward the Council. The others were a bit uncertain on what to do. Should they stay here and wait for Raven to finish with these…people? Or should they follow her?

Making up his mind Beast Boy trailed after Raven and the General. He didn't know what the Council business was about, but he could tell from Raven's attitude that she did not like these people at all. He knew that Raven would never ask for moral support, but that did not mean that she could not have it. The other's obviously thought the same thing, as they followed without any more hesitation.

They entered what Beast Boy believed was the main entrance to the Temple. It could only be the main one, due to the fact that it had a staircase that looked and felt like it was mile long. Said staircase led up to a pair of huge double doors that you could have fit a plane through, carved with strange symbols that Beast Boy did not want to guess at. At first he wondered how in the world they were supposed to move the things, but the General simply pushed on them and they swung open with no trouble.

Not even bothering to ask permission, Beast Boy entered and promptly stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him was the biggest statue he had ever seen. It depicted a huge white dragon (whether or not the white was its true color or because the thing was marble Beast Boy did not know). The dragon's body resembled that of a gorilla, a long muscular pair of forelegs and a short pair of hind legs. It had a long curved neck and a pointed triangular head with large tusks that resembled an elephants'. Its wings were spread wide, as if it was getting ready to fly away. Its teeth, claws and tusks appeared to be pure gold. It should have looked fearsome, but somehow the sculpture had managed to convey a look of wisdom and kindness on its huge face. It was beautiful, and Beast Boy guessed who this statue was made for. It must be Azar.

"Duuuuuuuude." He said quietly, realizing that he sounded like an idiot. But if he was an idiot so were the rest of them. The Titans looked up at the statue with eyes that had grown twice the normal size. But after a few minuets of gawking, Beast Boy remembered that he should have been following Raven. He spotted her walking down a hallway on the other side of the statue with the General, and he hurried to catch up. It was obvious as soon as he had gotten there that Raven had finished telling the General about the events that led to her being back home.

"If only I had been there." The General growled "I would have gutted that man and used his entrails for fishing lures."

"Please don't. You would poison the poor little fish. Then you would not be able to eat them." Raven replied, and the General chuckled. Personally Beast Boy did not find anything funny about that particular statement at all. This must be what people referred to as dry humor.

Beast Boy saw yet another door at the end of the hallway, with yet more unintelligible symbols covering it. Was this there destination?

Raven stopped at the door and turned to look at the others. "This is the council chamber." She said "but we can't let all of you in here. Some stupid rule or another. Who wants to be bored to death?"

Beast Boy immediately jumped at the opportunity, followed by Cyborg. Both of them were feeling Overprotective Male toward an Important Female Syndrome, a condition that made brothers, boyfriends and fathers act like their sister, girlfriend or daughter was made of glass and needed to be protected. In fact, Robin was feeling a bit of this as well, but he thought that this might be another opportunity to nose into Raven's past. Maybe if he could get the General talking…

As soon as Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy had entered the room, Jinx looked around. "Anyone mind if I take a look around?"

The General shrugged "Don't really care if you do, just don't try to open any locked doors."

Jinx's lunatic grin appeared on her face, and Robin had a feeling that locked doors would be the first place that she would try to explore. But Robin did not really want her around when he talked to the General, and in fact he did not want Star around either. As soon as Jinx had wandered off to look for trouble, Robin's eyes fell on the skunk Star was still holding.

"Star, why don't you find that skunk's owner and return it?" he asked.

"Oh, of course. But where is she?"

The General gave Starfire directions, and she flew off to find Raven's mother and return her skunk. He then gazed at Robin with a piercing expression. He knew that this oddly dressed boy wanted to talk to him about something, but the General had no idea what it could be.

"Um," Robin started, suddenly feeling awkward for some reason "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did." The General replied, still giving Robin a critical look.

Robin decided to just go ahead. Really, what was the worst that this man could do? "I'd like to know a bit more about Raven."

"Why?" The General kept staring, looking a bit like a protective father. "You live with her, don't you?" He did not look happy about this at all.

_How does he know that we all live in the same place?_ An ideal thought flickered past Robin's mind, he stored it for later, but right now he had to deal with the angry looking elf in front of him.

"Well, she doesn't talk much about herself and-"

"And what?" The General's glare darkened even more. "What makes you think that I would talk to you when she does not? Why would I tell you anything? And for that matter why do you want to know? Do you doubt her loyalty to you little team?"

"Of course not! I-"

"If you think I'm going to start talking to you without knowing the reason why-"

"If you be quiet for a minute then I'll tell you why!" Robin bellowed.

The look on the General's face had changed. It was obvious that this was the first time anyone had dared to shout at him in a while. At first Robin wondered if he was in for a fight, but the General no longer looked angry. In fact he looked a bit amused.

"I suppose I do tend to be a bit overprotective of her." The General admitted. "I've gotten used to people making snide comments about her. Ask your questions, but don't be surprised if I refuse to answer a few."

Okay, that was fair. Right now the question in the forefront of Robin's mind was "Why are you so protective of her?"

The General's stony face softened just a little bit. "First and foremost" He said "You have to understand that I trained her father Flario before long before she was born. You know about that situation?"

Robin nodded "Trigon possessed Flario and raped her mother."

"Correct. Before he was possessed Flario was one of my best students. He was a bit of an arrogant little snot, but I suppose he had a right to be. He could outfight just about anyone he came across except me. Flario had his faults, but he was a good man in general. Part of the reason I looked after Raven was out of respect for the person Flario used to be, not the monster Trigon made him. The Flario I knew would have wanted someone to protect his daughter, especially since she is a Halfblood. Also…"

The General paused for a moment, as if to collect his thoughts and then he went on. "Raven's mother, Arella, didn't have an easy time during childbirth. In fact bringing Raven here almost killed her. I honestly thought Arella was going to die, and I didn't want Flario's daughter to be raised by someone who did not at least know her father. So I made a vow to help raise and protect her, and an elf always keeps his word."

"But…isn't Raven's mother here?"

The General nodded "Arella survived, but I never said that I would protect her only if Arella died. I simply said that I would raise and protect her. The fact that Arella lived did not change that."

Robin thought that it might be a bit more than that. He could tell, from the way that the General acted, that the elf truly thought of Raven as a father would. That was probably the source of his earlier defensiveness.

"Could you tell me a bit more about her childhood?" Robin asked.

"Hmmmmm." The General seemed to think for a moment "What precisely do you want to know?"

Robin thought for a bit. "Well, was she always so…so…"

"Cold and mean? Are those the words you were searching for?" there was that defensiveness again.

"I mean, it must have been hard having powers that worked like hers as a child."

"Ha." The General chuckled "But she did not have to deal with her powers as a child! When she was born the priests could practically feel her powers radiating from her, and they knew that it would cause trouble. They put a magical block over her mind that prevented her powers from manifesting themselves. For the first eight years of her life she was a mostly normal girl."

"Eight years?"

"She broke her block at age eight without any help at all." The General said with a bit of pride sneaking into his voice. "Just one more question and then you have to stop before you annoy me."

Robin thought for a moment. "Did she have any friends growing up?"

"When she was little the king and queen of the Caninoids brought their son, Arcktos, here to be tutored. Just in case you did not know a Caninoid is a bipedal dog. Very intelligent and very tough. She and he were playmates until the queen died and her husband took her son home with him. I'm pretty sure that they still kept in contact until Raven left for Earth. She was also close to a female centaur named Twainisa and a young human named Hadiran. And there was Sanath, but I doubt that you could call him a real friend, and I'm not going to tell you why."

Robin spent some time digesting this new information. He wondered if it would possible to meet any of Raven's old friends during this trip. He hoped so, the General had shed a bit of light on Raven's murky past, but Robin was not sure if he was on the right track.

"Now I have a question for you, boy. Why are you so interested in Raven?" The General asked.

Robin hesitated for just a moment then he proceeded to tell the General about what the unicorn had told him. Robin felt he could trust this man, even though he had just met him.

The General looked thoughtful. "Later," he said "I think I'll tell you a bit more about Flario. I think that you will have to know more about him, if what the unicorn says is true."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

* * *

Beast Boy just could not figure this out. When he, Cyborg and Raven had entered the circular room that looked like a smaller version of the place where the U.N. meet he thought that the three people sitting in the area above them were expecting a…debriefing. That was what it felt like when they asked what Raven had accomplished on Earth. She had then spouted off every villain they had ever faced and every time they had thrown said villain in jail. She didn't actually tell them stories, it was more like: "Cinderblock arrested twelve times, Plasmus arrested eleven times…" and she went through every one. Beast Boy stopped listening to her after a while and studied the people.

In the middle was a guy that looked a bit like Aqualad's fish buddy Tram, but larger and blue and with a clear sneer on his fishy face. The lady on his left was a lady that reminded Beast Boy of his first grade teacher (a really nice lady who always gave out candy treats to the students who behaved themselves). She was a kind looking middle aged woman who was giving Raven an encouraging look. The man on the fish guy's right was an older man, about seventy, who simply looked neutral and a bit bored.

Raven finished her recitation, and Beast Boy assumed they were done. However, this was when this stopped resembling a debriefing, and started resembling a trial.

"How many of these people have you killed?" the fish man asked, and Beast Boy resisted the urge to leap on him.

"Sasssumal, you know that superhero's are not allowed to kill criminals in the line of duty on Earth." The older man said gently.

"I didn't ask about their 'laws'" Sasssumal the fish guy said "I asked if she has killed anyone."

"I have killed no one." Raven said with a calm that Beast Boy would never have achieved.

"You know that Raven was trained not to believe in killing" the woman said "Honestly I don't believe that any former student of mine-"

"Don't be a fool, Croena!" Fish face snarled at her "You know as well as I do what she is!"

"I think I know a bit more than you do, Sasssumal!" the women, Croena, said "Since I'm the only Council member here who has ever spent time with Raven! If you spent less time listening to Dralor's bigotry than maybe you would know what you are talking about!"

"Is there a point to any of this?" the older man said "Honestly, she is not on trial after all. "

_Could have fooled me._ Beast Boy thought.

"She has been known to show rather demonic traits." Sasssumal continued as if Raven was not there "You know what demons are like. She became a full demon once before and she could do it again!"

"That was only once, and she has more than proven that she can control herself since then." Croena said in a low voice. "Or have you forgotten that if it were not for her and her friends Trigon would be ruling both Earth and Azarath by now?"

"Speaking of which" Fish face glared at Raven once again. "Raven you have been living with three boys in a tower with no adults in sight."

Raven tensed "What precisely are you implying?"

"Five teenagers, all living together? What exactly is goes on in that tower when you people are not protecting that city?"

Beast Boy's mouth dropped open. This guy thought that they…with Raven? What was he smoking? Sure Beast Boy thought she was pretty…and he really liked her…but that didn't mean that Raven would…Raven was the last person who would do what this moron was implying! Beast Boy opened his mouth to say something, but Raven somehow sensed his intentions and shot him a glare.

Finally decided that she had enough, Raven returned Fish face's glare with a death look of her own. "Unless you have anything specific to accuse me of, I would like to get back to Makhar business. May I go now?"

"Yes, please leave." The older man said quickly before Fish face could object. Raven did not wait around for him to start up again either. Beast Boy never saw her move toward a door so fast. He could not blame her at all. He didn't like the fact that they seemed to bump into people who hated Raven for what she was every five steps. Why couldn't these people see Raven for who she really was, instead of judging her all the time? It was just so frustrating.

When they left they found Robin and the General waiting for them. It was pretty clear that they had been talking, and Beast Boy thought he knew what it was about.

"So, little one, did you tell them to go to hell again?" the General said with an amused look.

"Not this time." Raven shrugged.

"Pity, I always thought it was a Makhar's duty to tell the Council to go to hell. Maybe next time." The General said, but then his voice grew serious. "If you are really going to the Demonfang Moutains than you should probably head out right now. I don't know when Dralor will be back, but I don't want you here when he does. Better to avoid that scene altogether."

"Yes, good idea." Raven looked over at the others for a moment then said "we might want to get you guys some night horses for yourselves. Think you could spare five of them, General?"

He nodded just as the perky voice of Starfire started echoing down the hallways. Soon she was in sight, followed by a woman with the same purple hair as Raven. Beast Boy had a feeling that this was Arella, Raven's mom. Starfire was babbling at Arella like the proverbial brook. Arella looked more amused by this than anything else. Coming along behind Arella was the skunk and fluttering above her was a small falcon. Beast Boy remembered Raven saying something about her mother being able to talk to animals.

Raven backed up a little, and looked like she wanted to hide for moment. Beast Boy had no idea why. If this was Raven's mother than shouldn't she be happy? Raven looked more nervous than happy.

Ignoring Raven's discomfort completely, Starfire floated over to Raven and said "Raven! I have just met your mother!"

"Interesting friends you have here." Arella said with a calm tone. She seemed to Beast Boy like a woman who rarely raised her voice at all. A bit like Raven herself, but there was less anger lurking under the surface.

"You think they are strange than you should see the enemies we have to fight." Raven said "It's nice to see you again mother."

Arella nodded and gave Raven a warm look. They kind of stared at each other for a bit, as if neither of them really knew what to say. After a long and kind of awkward silence, the General cleared his throat.

"Like I said, it is best if you headed out soon. Let's go to the stables and pick out those night horses."

Beast Boy realized that Mithrah, who normally followed Raven like a puppy, was not here. In fact, when Beast Boy thought for a while he figured out that he had not seen the aggressive creature in a while. Where had it gone?

"Hey, Rae, where did Mithrah go?" Beast Boy asked as they walked to wherever it was they were going now.

"Probably went to the stables. He knows this place well, and he would go back there. Night horses have a strong homing instinct."

"Oh." Beast Boy said "Um, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Back there they said something about you being a full demon…" Beast Boy trialed off.

Raven signed. "You know those times when my eyes glow red?" Beast Boy nodded "that's my demon half peeking through. I have enough control over myself that it doesn't not come out completely, but…"

"I'm not sure I understand."

Raven stopped and stared at Beast Boy. The others were far enough away for them not to hear, and the hallway was empty. For all intents and purposes they were alone. She had never really talked about her demon form before, and it made her uncomfortable. That…thing inside of her was the source of a great deal of misery, and it had almost led to her death once. But if anyone could understand about this it would be Beast Boy.

"You remember that time when you were infected by those chemicals?" she began. "You said afterward that you could still feel the beast inside of you? Well, since my powers are demonic in nature if I were to completely let go of my emotions I would turn into a complete demon, like you became a beast. Only…I'm not sure I can control it like you can control the beast."

Beast Boy finally understood. So this was what she meant when she told him she understood what he was going through when he was the Beast. And this was what the unicorn was talking about when he had told Beast Boy about the demon inside of her. He had meant a literal demon, not a figurative one. Now Beast Boy realized how alike they really were. They both had monsters they had to control. Only Beast Boy kept it down with humor and fun, and Raven used meditation and calm to control hers. He was not sure what to say about this.

Raven didn't want to look at Beast Boy. She was afraid if she did she would see the same loathing she had seen in so many other people when she told them about her demon half. Talking about this made her remember what had brought on the first demon transformation, and the ensuing aftermath of death threats. She turned to walk away, but stopped when she felt him grab her hand.

"Raven, I understand. Heck I'm probably the only person who can!" he said, his voice filled with nothing but concern and kindness, not the hatred she had feared. "Just…promise me that if it gets bad you'll come talk to me so I can help you."

Something fluttered in Raven's chest. She wanted to look at him, but she still did not dare. She was scared, but of what she did not know.

"Fine, sure." She muttered and she pulled away from him to follow the others down the hall.

* * *

An Author's note: Yep, I did get the half-demon that sometimes turns into a full demon from Inyuasha, but I won't have her going full human at certain times of the moon. And I don't own Inyuasha, or Teen Titans, or Lovecraft. Oh I think you get the point, right? 


	15. Chapter 15

An Author's note: Well I got nothing to say here…but…

On with the show! (God this is becoming a habit!)

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

Of Night Horses and Friendly Attacks

Jinx was completely and utterly bored.

This was not a good thing.

You would have thought that a place with so much magical energy would have been a bit more interesting. You would have thought there would have been interesting things to see and hear and fiddle with. But no. Everywhere she looked Jinx saw people reading and meditating and reading some more and writing down things and meditating and…and…it was BORING!

Drat, this was a waste of her time! Wandering outside in a desperate attempt to find something to do, Jinx heard an odd noise coming from a place that looked like a horse stable. Thinking that she finally found something to do with her time, Jinx wandered over to the stables and let herself in.

It was full with night horses. White ones, brown ones, tan ones, paint, buckskin, grey, and just about every horse color in the horse rainbow. They varied in size from small racing night horses to large war night horses. They nickered and growled and stamped restlessly, as if they knew something Jinx did not. Jinx heard a rather familiar snort coming from her left. She looked and saw Mithrah happily eating some sort of bloody meaty mess in a horse trough in a stall. The stall door was wide open and nobody had even tried to tie the creature down. Jinx, who knew Mithrah rather well, surmised that the big night horses' homing instinct had lead him here, and the groom in charge must have decided to feed him. Smart. A full night horse was less likely to snap at you than a hungry one.

Still Jinx's ears detected an odd sound coming from the other end of the room, behind a closed door. It sounded like squeaking. Curious, and not at all inclined to resist temptation, the sorceress walked boldly toward the door and peeked in. What she saw caused the instinct inherit in all females to go "awwwww!" at anything slightly cute and fluffy attacked Jinx in full force. Though she said nothing aloud, she did think _Oh, how sweet_ for a moment.

Baby night horses.

Hatching.

And they were cute.

There was a least a two dozen eggs in the center of a large pile of sand in the middle of the room. Many of the eggs had already hatched into little baby night horses, and still more were rocking violently. Jinx was momentarily entranced by the miracle of life, so she did not notice something slithering toward her until it spoke into her ear.

"Who are you?" it spoke in a hiss of a voice.

Jinx jumped and turned to face a gigantic cobra with a pair of arms and an inquiring expression. He and Jinx was fairly certain it was a he, was flicking his tongue at her like a normal cobra would have. A normal girl would have squealed or fainted, but Jinx was never the squealing or fainting type. Besides, she knew a naga when she saw one, and she knew that they were relatively harmless.

Unless you made them mad.

"Hi, I'm Jinx. I'm a friend of Raven's."

The naga's eyes light up. "Ah! Raven! I knew sssshe musst be back. Mithrah'ssssss pressssence here is proof of that. If you are her friend you are welcome here!" He slithered over to one of the eggs and turned it gently, then he spoke again "Raven wass the only young persssson here intresssted in thessse marvoluss creaturss. Did you know that ssshe raissed that wild thing of hersss all alone?"

Jinx nodded, and stared as the little creature inside an egg started sticking its little tan nose out of its egg. The naga noticed Jinx's stare and asked "Would you like to help me?"

Jinx grinned broadly. Finally! Something interesting!

While Jinx was discovering the baby night horses, the others were rapidly approaching the exact same stables. The General paused and listened to the audible squeaking, and smiled for a moment.

"Sounds like the new batch is finally hatching." He said, and was almost knocked over by Raven. If there was any night horse hatching going on in there, she wanted to see it. She opened the door and entered and only paused to briefly scratch Mithrah, who was frankly to busy eating to even notice "Mother" for once. She then went strait for the door at the other end of the stables and let herself in.

She stopped and almost burst out laughing at the scene. There was Jinx, standing in the middle of the sand pile with a bucket of raw meat strips in her hand being mobbed by the hatchlings. Jinx was actually doing a fairly good job. Still, Raven decided to pitch in all the same. There was no way she was going to miss out on helping with a hatching. Raven walked over to Jinx and selected a handful of meat and started passing them out the squeaking equine chorus, who were more than happy to have another "mommy" to feed them. Jinx, who had begun to feel slightly overwhelmed, gave Raven a grateful look.

"Hello Raven." A familiar voice called out. Raven looked and saw the naga who had helped fuel her love of night horses curled up with his own bucket, feeding another group of hatchlings.

"Hellow Irike. How have you been?"

"Fine. I ssssssaw Mithrah jusssst a while ago. You are raisssssssing him well." The naga hissed with appreciation.

"Wow!" Cyborg's voice came from the entrance of the doorway. "Look at all the little night horses!"

"Yessssssssssssss." Irike hissed "It's a wonderful amount of eggsss this year. Two dozen of them, and they all look like they will sssurvive!" The naga looked at the Titans one by one "Are you all friendsss of Raven?"

"We are indeed!" Starfire gushed "Please where do you come from; how did you get here; what is your favorite color; do you wish to be my friend?"

Irike stared at her as if she had grown an extra pair of heads then "Azarath, wass hatched from an egg, my speciessssssss is colorblind therefore I do not have a favorite color and…I sssssssssssssssuppose." Irike leaned over and whispered in Raven's ear "Isss there something wrong with that human?"

"She's not a human, she's an alien and this is how she always acts."

Irike blinked then lowered his voice even more. "How do you ssstand it?"

"High threshold for pain." Was the dark girl's response. She then smirked a little as Starfire enveloped her new "friend" in one of her infamous killer hugs. The naga, who had never been hugged before, almost bit her out of pure savage instinct. Thankfully, however, Irike realized that biting a friend of Raven's was not a good idea, and he resisted the instinct. But he would not allow himself to be hugged for more than a moment and he quickly slithered out of Starefire's grasp.

"Pleasssse, do not do that again." He said as he backed away.

"If you don't mind we need to get busy here." The General said. "Irike, we need some horses for these people. Can you help us?"

Irike nodded "Raven, can you take over feeding the little one'ssss?"

"Of course I will. I'll be taking Mithrah, so I really don't need to help." Most of her attention was focused on the hatchlings.

Arella walked over to her daughter and said "Mind if I join you?" Raven looked at her mother and shrugged. As the others followed Irike out the door they heard the faint sounds of the two of them talking. Beast Boy guessed that they were doing some mother-daughter catching up and Beast Boy would never have even dreamed of interrupting something like that. The death of his parents had been hard on him, and he knew how important a bond like that was.

However, his pointed elf ears could not help but pick up little bits of the conversation:

Raven: ….my fault he died, Mother, I should….really stupid….your familiar.

Arella: He wasn't a young bird….Zip would…only a few more years…not your fault.

Raven: Changes nothing…not causing anymore…you hear me?

Arella: Zapolio is not…as Zipatila was. Honestly…sense your connection…the boy doesn't know.

Raven: Of course he doesn't. It would…Starfire would be crushed….not to a friend…don't tell Robin…just not right and you know it…seen them together…

Arella…bond…with a human…you can do it with both…can't keep letting the past get in the way of…

Raven: I'm not taking Zap…not telling Robin either…drop it.

Beast Boy tried to shut off his darned ears. He knew that eavesdropping got you into trouble. Especially if you were eavesdropping on Raven, whose vengeance could cause a certain green teen much pain. But what where they talking about? Who were Zapolio and Zipatila? What was the bond they mentioned? And what did this have to do with Robin? Beast Boy shoved those questions aside. He knew that if he started butting into Raven's private conversations it would kill any chance of him having any sort of relationship with her. He fought back his curiosity and focused on the business at hand.

(A/N: to all my reviewers who are following this: I'll give a nice hint. Read back to chapters one((chapter two on your little right drop bar thingy, remember the chapter one on there is the prologue and the author's note.)) and three ((four on the right drop thingy)) and see if you can piece together what's happening with this little subplot! See if you can figure out what the heck is going on before B.B. does! I won't have a door prize for you, but I'd like to see what you come up with! I want to see if the little clues I've scattered around those chapters are too easy.)

While Beast Boy had been distracted, the General had been leading the others through the stables looking for night horses for all of them. Beast Boy walked up to him just as he was showing Cyborg a huge specimen that kind of looked like a brown Clydesdale. It was huge and should have looked like something out of a nightmare, but it had calm, gentle expression. Beast Boy, who knew animals better than anyone, knew that this guy was gentle, despite his size and fangs.

"Gigantus here should be strong enough to carry you, and he is pretty relaxed and calm. You've never ridden a night horse have you?" Cybdorg shook his head and looked intimidated "have you ever ridden a normal horse?" The General asked.

"Man, I don't do horses. I'm a city boy!" Cyborg said.

Then General gave him a condescending look, then the look was passed on to the other Titans "So, do any of you know how to ride a horse?" he asked the question like a Earth person would ask if someone knew how to write.

"I know how to ride." Robin said _couldn't have not learned, growing up in a circus with all those show horses._ He added silently.

"I have ridded a creature on my planet similar in function to a horse, but it was only once." Starfire admitted.

"Dude, I've BEEN a horse!" Beast Boy said "and a zebra, and a donkey, and a mule, and a night horse!"

"I've ridden Mithrah." Jinx said. Everyone stared at her. "Well I have!" she said defensively.

"How come you are still standing here with all of your limbs, then?" Cyborg asked.

"Well…Raven was kind of leading him around on his collar and muttering at him the whole time" Jinx admitted "That's probably why he didn't maul me. I think he was thinking about it, though."

More staring followed this little statement then the General sighed. "Once we get you people the night horses I should probably come with you for a little bit. Give you a crash course in riding a night horse."

"Um, why are we even taking these?" Cyborg asked as he gestured toward Gigantus, who gave him a dignified snort.

"One, because Raven with be taking Mithrah, and when that creature bolts he can reach up to seventy miles per hour, and he can go that way constantly. Only another night horse can keep up with him. Can you run seventy miles per hour, metal man?" The General said, and Cyborg grumbled.

"Two" the General continued. "Night horses have a strong homing instinct. If, by chance, one of you gets lost and you are with a night horse the creature with automatically seek out the closest members of their herd. Meaning that the night horses will all be able to congregate together wherever you go if you give them the command. It's the main reason people use night horses."

Cyborg grumbled something about doing the same thing with his GPS locater, but the General ignored him. Instead he showed Cyborg how to saddle the night horse. Cyborg paid attention, but only under duress. Then the General lead the night horse out the door and tied him to a post. He would teach the Titans how to ride all at the same time.

Within moments they had each been assigned there own night horse. Beast Boy got a young little chestnut mare named Athena, Starfire received a white stallion called Sleipnir, Jinx got a grey mare called Raincloud, Robin received a red roan stallion with the amusing title of Hotrod and Cyborg of course had Gigantus (who was also a stallion).

"Um, you don't have any geldings here?" Beast Boy asked, knowing first hand how touchy stallions could be together.

"These night horses are meant to be breed, boy. Don't worry though; night horse behavior is not like normal horse behavior." The General replied.

The next thirty minutes were spent trying to learn the basics of night horse riding. Naturally Robin and Jinx caught on first, and the two of them were literally riding around the others in circles within minutes. Actually, it was Jinx who did most of the circling, and the laughing, and the taunting. Robin was just trying to demonstrate to the others how it was done. After a while it worked on Starfire, but Cyborg and Beast Boy were utterly hopeless.

Beast Boy soon learned that riding a night horse and being a night horse were two different things. He just could not seem to get Athena to obey him. The night horse was a stubborn one, and never seemed to listen to a word Beast Boy said. He signaled to go right, and she went left. He wanted her to speed up and she would slow down. And she would randomly spark between her horns, worrying Beast Boy to end. He could swear that the mare was laughing at him. However, this was nothing compared to what Cyborg was going thru.

No matter what Cyborg did, no matter how hard he tried, the metal man just could not stay on top of Gigantus. He would stay on for about two seconds then he would fall off. And it was not as if Gigantus was bucking, in fact the longsuffering creature barely moved at all. Gigantus just stood there snorting every time Cyborg fell, as if he was praying to the horse gods to save him from his moronic rider. Cyborg was completely disgusted. He could build a car from scratch, disarm a bomb and beat Beast Boy's butt at every video game but he could not even stay on a stationary and totally cooperative night horse.

As he fell for the tenth time, Cyborg glared up at Gigantus, who was looking at him from above. "I so hate you." He growled. Gigantus signed, as if to say that he was not very fond of Cyborg either.

"It's not his fault that you can't stay on, Cyborg." Said a familiar voice. It was Raven. Apparently she was done taking care of the hatchlings and had lead Mithrah out of his stall. The black night horse was saddled and obviously ready to go.

With Raven's help they managed to finally get Cyborg on top of Gigantus permanently, even though he still looked a bit tipsy. She also managed to solve Beast Boy's steering problem by simply verbally ordering the frisky mare to follow the herd, which she did.

"Can we go now?" Raven growled as soon as they all looked somewhat ready.

The General nodded "I'll come with you as far as Falcon's Eye Tower. I doubt you'll get any farther than that today and I'm sure that Arucules will want to see you."

"What he'll do is attack us on sight." Raven muttered "Lunatic minotaur."

"It wassss good ssssssssseeing you again, Raven." The naga said and Raven gave him a warm (for her) nod.

Arella looked at Raven with concern. "Are you sure you don't want-"

"For the last time, Mother I do not want one of your familiar's trailing us. It's not happening." For a moment her voice was harsh and cold, but then Raven seemed to…melt a little bit "I'll miss you Mother." She said softly, so only Arella and the sharp eared Beast Boy could really hear her.

They left, and frankly Beast Boy was glad to see the back of that city and that temple with all those racist people in it. Sure a few of them were nice, but they were outnumbered by the bigoted ones that seemed to infect the place like a horde of cockroaches. They used another bridge on the other side of the city and ended up on a large plain that seemed to stretch forever. Beast Boy fervently hoped that they would receive a warm welcome in this Falcon's Eye Tower.

He was right, but he was also very wrong.

* * *

"Ohhhhhhhhhh, my buuuuuuuuuuuttttttttt!" The groan echoed throughout the plains.

"O sweet Azar!" The General muttered.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh, my tttttttttthighhhhhhhhhhhhhhs." There it was again.

"Does that green goblin ever shut up?" The General asked Raven.

"Not really." Came the reply. The General groaned, but he kept his groan to himself. Unlike Beast Boy, who was wailing in pure agony. As it turned out Beast Boy was unfamiliar with the fact that horse backs generally hurt first time riders, and no matter how many times he BECAME a horse, that did not change the fact that he had never RIDDEN a horse.

"Ohhhhhhhhh, my ba-"

"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!?" Raven gave a completely unnatural (for her) bellow. "Sweet Azar you are driving me nuts!"

A moment of precious silence…then:

"But Raven, it huuuuuuuuurts!" Beast Boy whined.

"Live with it." She growled.

"Come one, can't we take a break?" he asked.

"We took a break thirty minutes ago; we are not taking another one." Robin said firmly.

Beast Boy moaned and cried and generally drove everyone crazy for ten full minutes. Finally, Raven spotted a large tower looming in the distance. It was made of black stone and had a statue of a huge black falcon on the top; wings spread wide and beak open in an eternal screech.

"Finally." She muttered "Falcon's Eye Tower." Then she raised her voice and said "We are almost there."

"Oh thank you Azar, Jesus, Buddha and He-Who-Created-All-Things!" The General raised his eyes to the sky in reverence "I was about to throttle that green horror right here!"

Excited at the thought of rest, Beast Boy somehow managed to figure out how to make his night horse to go faster. He charged toward the tower with the hopes of getting rid of the night horse.

"Beast Boy, wait!" Raven urged Mithrah to follow and tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Seemly from nowhere a huge creature landed in front of Beast Boy, who was bucked of by his startled mount. The night horse fled to others, obviously not wanting to stick around. Beast Boy landed on his already sore posterior and stared up at the creature before him.

It was huge, bigger and more muscular than even Cyborg. It had the basic body structure of a human, two arms and two legs, but said legs ended in huge hooves that looked like you could eat out of them. He, it was defiantly a he, was covered in long brown fur. He was dressed in nothing but a loincloth and a light blue cloak in the same style as Raven's with the same belt with Falconblood stones set in. Its head was the head of a bull with long sharp fangs and huge glittering horns. Beast Boy wondered if there were creatures in this world _without_ long sharp fangs. Beast Boy noticed that this creature had a lot of grey around his muzzle. So he was probably old, but he still looked ready to thrash anyone who got in his way.

Raven rode up to the creature, pulled out Whistler and said "Hello Arucules."

"Greetings my scrawny little girl-child." Arucules said in a deep booming voice. Then he assumed a fighting stance "Now defend yourself!" With a roar he lunged for Beast Boy and Raven, horns lowered to skewer.

Beast Boy yipped in surprise and shifted to cheetah. He dodged the attack with his feline reflexes. Somehow Raven had managed to dodge as well, so Arucules had shot between them.

Beast Boy sifted to human and turned to Raven "Dude, why is he attacking us!?"

"This is his way of saying hello." Raven answered calmly.

The other Titans were close enough to hear this statement, and all of them were completely bewildered by it. However, this did not stop them from defending themselves. Robin did an impressive pole vault from his horse. He flicked open his bo staff and hooked it between the attacking minotaur's horns. He hung there for a moment and meet Arucules's eyes for a moment.

"Ever heard of the rodeo?" He asked.

The minotaur smiled. "Ever heard of orbit?" he asked and flung the Boy Wonder with a mighty toss. It was far more forceful than Robin had calculated, and he flew thru the air like the bird he was named for. Robin twisted in midair and tossed some of his smoke balls, trying to blind Arucules. The minotaur was enveloped instantly, but that did not stop a pair of golden beams of light that emerged five seconds later. They hit Robin squarely and sent him spinning like a little top thru the sky.

Starfire, enraged, pelted the minotaur with starbolts. Or she tried to anyway. Arucules dodged every single one like they were nothing. Even when Jinx and Cyborg joined in with hex bolts and sonic blasts the nimble minotaur still evaded everything they threw at him. But somehow all of HIS blows always seemed to connect.

For thirty minuets the battle raged on. Fro once the Titans, who seemed like the perfect team, found themselves at the losing end. Arucules may have been old, but he was more skilled a fighter than any of them, and he was proving it. Finally, the team just could not go on anymore. Arucules took them all out, and while it was not easy, he still was most defiantly the winner. The Titans found themselves in a pile on the ground, and everyone looked just about as black and blue as you could get.

"Hmmmm." Arucules glared at them like he was evaluating them "You are a pretty good team, all around. I mean for a bunch of Earth people. Not many can last thirty minutes in combat with me. But you!" he glared at Raven with a stern look "You did not use your powers even once! After all I tried to teach you, you skinny little thing. Why do you not use it? How dare you shame me like, this Scrawny!"

Raven glared at him "Stupid old fool." She said "Are you going blind? Can't you tell that my powers are lost?"

Arucules stared at her dumfounded as Raven went on "They were stolen from me by a rouge wizard. I don't even have the power to light a candle. Don't talk to me about dishonor, old man. If you didn't spend all your time attacking people you would have sensed it long ago!"

"Grrrrrr." Arucules snarled "I apologize for berating you, girl. It was wrong of me. Bring the Earth people. I can see we have a lot talk about."

Raven nodded. "We do indeed.

* * *

An Author's note: He's such a nice, pleasant little minotaur, isn't he? Can you believe that some people have never even heard of minotaur's? It is a shame, they are cool! That's why I made Raven's old Makhar trainer a minotaur. He actually is an okay guy, once you get to know him, even though this chapter makes him look like a violent nutcase. Anyway hope you are still liking the story!

Coming up next week: more on Hadiran's untimely death and Raven's demon form! Oh God, I sound like a television announcer. SOMEONE SAVE ME!


	16. Chapter 16

An Author's note: You actually got most of it right, Gaxe. Zipatila was indeed one of Arella's familiars and he did indeed die, but he wasn't a raven. He was another type of bird. As for Raven being responsible for his death…well just keep reading and see. Hint: Ever seen the episode Go? Ever notice that Raven looks like she is about ready to burst into tears in that episode? Okay, I'm exaggerating about the tears, but she does look very upset about something, or at least to me she does. This had something to do with that.

As for why Arella wants her familiars to follow Raven, well think a bit about what a familiar is for a while and see if you can come up with something!

Oh, and just to clear one thing up, those two light beams mentioned in the pervious chapter are emitted through the minotaur's horns. Sorry, I was not clear on that.

Wonder what happened to my first reviewer, TDG3RD. The rest of you guys have been sending me feedback every chapter, but this one does not. Kind of makes me wonder if I somehow scared this one off…oh well. If you are still reading let me know please!

On with the show!

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

Late Night Chats

"Dude, what is that guy's problem?" Beast Boy asked as they lead there horses to the tower stables. Beast Boy checked over his shoulder and found that Arucules had decided to let them take care of the night horses themselves and had entered the tower. That was fine with Beast Boy, he was afraid that the big minotaur would randomly attack them again.

"He was just testing me, and you guys too, most likely. I was his last student remember?" Raven said.

"So he just randomly attacks his students?" Beast Boy asked, still a bit put off.

Raven nodded "According to him it's meant to teach you how to think quickly, but all it did for me was make me a bit ill tempered."

_A bit ill tempered? Try extremely ill tempered. _Beast Boy thought as he followed her into Falcon's Eye Tower's stables. They looked a bit on the abandoned side, as if they had not been used in a while. Aloud he said "So he randomly assaults you and calls you names? Who does he think he is?"

"He and I are last two Makhar in existence, Beast Boy." Raven said "And he also happens to be Azarath's answer to Superman. He's taken down more monsters than any of us have and as far as I know he has never lost a fight. Trust me; you don't want to get on his bad side. Just don't tell him that he resembles a cow, minotaurs hate that." She lead Mithrah to a stall, then glanced over Beast Boy's head and said "Cyborg what are you doing?"

Cyborg, after sticking his horse in his own stall, had just walked out and was proceeding to leave while his poor night horse stood there still saddled and looking offended to the extreme. It was not that Cyborg had purposely tried to abuse the night horse; it just never occurred to him that he needed to take care of it. He turned and gave Raven a puzzled look. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Raven pointed to the problem "Question Cyborg: would you be happy if I had borrowed your car but then brought it back to the tower and put it in the garage with mud all over it all the lights on and the engine running?"

"No way!" Cyborg said in a hurt tone.

"Then what makes you think you have the right to leave a night horse you borrowed in a stall still fully saddled without taking care of it properly?"

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm." Cyborg said, realizing that she had a point "Look I barely know how to ride the thing-"

"Cyborg?" Raven said through gritted teeth "just get over here and learn how to take care of your night horse. If you can spend five hours waxing an inanimate object you can spare ten minutes for a living thing."

Sheepishly Cyborg went over and listened as Raven went over how to properly take care of a night horse. He felt a bit bad, not because he like the things, in fact night horses were swiftly becoming his least favorite animal, but because Raven obviously thought that he would put his car above another living thing. Sure he loved his baby, but he knew that it was just a car. Hadn't he destroyed it once when Overload took it over? He wouldn't place the car above another living being. However, as it turned out he was much better at taking care of the night horse more than he was a riding it. It was over and done with quicker than Cyborg would have thought, and frankly he was glad for that. He was also glad that he was not the only one who needed instructions; even Robin with his familiarity with horses needed some help. The General was the only one she did not bug. He had taken care of his steed long ago and had left the Titans alone to be instructed.

After Raven had made sure that everyone had taken care of their night horses right she led them into the tower, which seemed almost as deserted as the stables.

"Does anyone live here?" Cyborg asked, looking around the deserted hallways.

"Just Arucules, really. Weren't you listening when I said that he and I were the only Makhar in existence?" Raven answered.

"He dwells here all alone? How sad!" Starfire said.

"Doesn't really seem to bother him, though." Raven said just as a familiar bellow echoed throughout the tower.

"GIRL! Bring those Earth people to the dining room! Unless they want to starve!"

"How can you stand being treated like this?!" Beast Boy growled.

"He's a minotaur, they're all like this." Raven said as she led the way.

As they entered the dining hall they found the General already seated and eating, as well as Arucules. The big table they were eating at was obviously designed to hold a lot of people, at might have at one point in time. It was made of beautiful mahogany, but the lack of people made it look to large and intimidating. Cyborg wondered if he would be faced with the horrible prospect of green leafy food, since their host…well…kind of resembled a cow. However to his delight he saw a large roasted bird of some sort on the table. There WAS a bowl of salad next to it, but Cyborg was determined to ignore it.

They dug in. Most of them partook of the large bird, but Beast Boy, still intent on his vegetarian ways, practically hogged the salad. While they ate Raven filled her old teacher in on the details of their visit. His reaction was similar to the General's, only Arucules was much more descriptive, almost to the point that he made the others sick.

When they were done Arucules suggested that they all go to bed for the night. Since they were very tired from the ride here they all agreed willingly. Besides, it was not like the minotaur had a Game station hidden in the closet, so what was the point of staying up? Since the place was basically deserted Arucules let them have their choice of rooms. The Titans basically took over a wing full of small apartments, one Titan to a room.

However, Beast Boy just could not sleep. He hated unfamiliar beds in unfamiliar rooms. It made him feel a bit on the lost side. He needed the comforting smells and sounds of his real room, and he was restless without them. He tossed and turned on his bed, trying to find a comfortable position, but to no avail. Finally, he got up and started pacing around the room.

It was about ten when he heard someone opening and closing a door in the hallway. Wondering who was up, he sifted to a mouse and peeked under the crack in the doorframe, just in time to see the tale end of a blue cloak disappearing around the corner.

_What is she doing?_ He thought. Unable to hide his curiosity, Beast Boy wiggled completely out of the room and scurried after Raven. He caught up with her and followed at a distance, not wanting to get caught. She took several stairs downward, so much so that Beast Boy was certain that they were headed underground.

Then he smelled it. It was a musty odor that attacked his senses. It was the smell of a place that was not used very often. They had come to a door, and Beast Boy was certain this was where the smell was coming from. Raven opened the door and Beast Boy slipped in. He could see a large shelf like thing above his head. Making sure that Raven could not see him, Beast Boy climbed up the shelf and saw…

A dead body in a see through coffin.

Beast Boy squeaked in surprise and fell of the glasslike coffin lid scared out of his mind. His overactive imagination latched onto thoughts of zombies, but when no rotting hands tried to grab him he settled down. Choosing another shelf he discovered yet another body, and then another and then another. Finally he was realized what this was. It was a tomb. In a rare moment of logic he decided that this must be other Makhar, Makhar that had died and had been buried in this tower. But why would Raven want to visit a tomb?

He realized that he could hear Raven talking in the distance. He knew that he should not look, this was probably something private. But his curiosity was still to strong. He followed Raven's voice until he saw her; she was hovering over a single coffin and was talking to the occupant. With a pang Beast Boy realized she was doing the same thing he did when he talked to the picture of his dead parents. This person, this dead person, must have been someone close to her.

"You were right all along, Hadiran. Sanath was a lunatic, and only you could see it. I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you to begin with." There was a strange, strangled quality to Raven's voice "And you were right about people getting to know me. I've made friends, Hadiran. No, not friends, they're like a family. I never thought that people could accept me, but they did. And…about my destiny, you and the General were right about that as well. I BEAT him, Hadiran. I beat my father. Actually it was mostly my friends who beat him, but I did contribute."

The strangled quality to Raven's voice grew stronger, and all of a sudden Beast Boy realized that she was crying again. Thoughts of not getting caught evaporated in Beast Boy's mind, replaced by the need to comfort Raven. He sifted back to human and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder in an effort to comfort her. He almost gave her a heart attack. She turned and looked at him. She glared when she realized who it was, but she could not hide the fact that her eyes were red and puffy looking.

"Is privacy a foreign word to you, Beast Boy, or are you just dumb?" she asked.

"I know what it means; I just ignore it when my friends start crying. Raven, are you okay?"

"Yes!" she growled and tried to slap Beast Boy's hand away. For once he did not get upset, he just kept looking in her eyes, seeing the lie for what it was. Finally she looked at her feet and said "No."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Beast Boy asked.

She looked at him "How much of this are going to blab?" she asked.

"None, if you don't want me to say anything. I do know how to keep a secret!"

She sighed, not believing she was doing this. She nodded and then gestured toward the coffin, inviting Beast Boy to take a closer look. He did so, and saw the body of a young man about Raven's age with brown hair and a peaceful expression. He was wearing a black robe cut the same style as Raven's that for some reason reminded Beast Boy of the color of her powers. Next to the body was long spear thing with an odd curved blade that looked familiar. Then it hit him, he had seen a weapon like this in the museum. Robin had told him it was called a naganata, or something like that, and it was Japanese.

"Who is he?" Beast Boy asked.

"He…was the only other student learning the ways of the Makhar from Arucules. He was also one of my only real friends before I came to Earth. His name was Hadiran."

Raven looked at the corpse sadly.

"What happened?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's a long story."

"I got time." Beast Boy gave her an encouraging smile.

She hesitated, then started talking "When I first came here I was alone, but then a few months later he came along. He wanted to be Makhar, because his father was one before he died. His powers were a lot like mine, only a bit weaker because he's not part demon. Arucules decided to train us together; in fact we were a bit like partners. Notice that his cloak is black like my soul self? Well his aura…is blue. The same color of my cloak."

"So you matched up? I'm surprised, Rae. I never thought that you would color coordinate."

Raven shrugged. "It was his idea, actually. A lot of things were his idea. I don't know how he did it, but he somehow could manage to convince me to do almost anything. At first I didn't want to be his friend, but he somehow grew on me. For years we trained and lived together, and we became close friends even though he knew what I am.

Two years before I came to Earth I met another Halfblood named Sanath. Like me he was half Nazlar, but his other half was minotaur, not human. You know how badly our kind is treated, well; Sanath wanted all of that to stop. The things he said…made so much sense at the time…I thought he really wanted to help people, but it was all a lie. In a way, Sanath was a bit like Malchior, but Sanath didn't hurt just me, he hurt Hadiran as well."

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy was scared. This was starting to sound a lot like the Malchior incident.

Raven hesitated, but then went on. "Hadiran never liked Sanath. He said that he could feel something wrong with Sanath, but I was too caught up in Sanath's vision to listen to Hadiran. Then, on the night that Hadiran and I graduated, Hadiran threw this big party deal. I didn't really want to go, but Hadiran kind of strong-armed me into going. He even danced with me at the end, even though he knew I can't dance. Sanath was there too and…and he had such an ugly look on his face. I thought he just didn't like the party, I never dreamed that he…" Raven paused, but then went on.

"Later that night I hear the most awful howling. You see, Hadiran had a familiar, a pure white winged wolf named Winterwing that was literally as big as Mithrah. It was him I was hearing. I left my room to find out what was wrong, and I bumped into Sanath. He…he had murdered Hadiran. He'd broken Hadiran's neck." Beast Boy could see the tears forming in Raven's eyes, and this time she did not even try to stop them.

"But why?" Beast Boy said.

"I…I'm still not sure. Sanath said it was because…because Hadiran had no business touching me, because he was Fullblood and I was a Halfblood. He said that no Fullblood would ever care for me because of what I am. I think in his mind Sanath was trying to protect me, but…he was crazy Beast Boy! He kept on saying that in order for us to be free we had to destroy or conquer all the Fullbloods and make them pay. I realized that Sanath didn't want freedom, he wanted war. He wanted to kill everyone who got in his way, and in his mind Hadiran was in his way. When I saw Hadiran dead I lost control. Remember my demon form? That was the first and only time it completely took me over. I…don't remember exactly what happened. I think I attacked Sanath. I think I might have tried to kill him. The next thing I knew I was being magically restrained by the Matron, who was practically screaming at me to get control of myself. Eventually I did, but I really don't remember much about when I transformed. I suppose I blocked it out.

After that, people really became afraid of me. Even though by some miracle I hadn't killed anyone people still saw me as a monster. At one point I was almost…well take a look at this."

She pulled down the collar of her leotard just a bit, and Beast Boy saw a faint mark that circled her neck, as if someone had tried to hang her.

"Oh my God!" he breathed. "Raven, did they try to…" he couldn't even get the word out, but she knew what he was trying to say.

"Yeah, it was a lynch mob. They almost killed me that day."

"Why didn't you use your powers?"

"I…was afraid to. I was afraid that I would go insane again. And…I was not sure if I wanted to stop them. Don't look at me like that, Beast Boy. I don't mean I was suicidal, I didn't seek out death. I just didn't fight it when it came."

Beast Boy remembered the first time he met her. He had thought at the time that she was just being creepy and strange, but now when he thought back he recalled how sad she had looked. Was this the reason?

"Is this why you came to Earth? Because people wanted to kill you?" he asked.

"No, the Matron kind of took care of it. She made it perfectly clear that she would not tolerate lynch mobs trying to murder a High Priestess who technically had not done anything wrong. I came to Earth because of Hadiran. He had always wanted to go there and fight crime. At first I did too, until I learned that I was supposed to destroy the place. But he still kept encouraging me to go. In fact he was going to leave the next day, but…" She stared at her fallen friend a moment more with a haunted look in her eyes.

"What happened to Sanath?"

"I'm not sure. I never did find out, and I'm not sure I care. I don't ever want to see him again." Raven yawned at that precise moment.

"You should probably get some sleep. It's pretty late." Beast Boy said.

Raven nodded and got up to leave. She was unsure of what to say now; she had never told anyone about this before. It was strange, she felt so relived. She really needed to confide in her friends more often than this. Beast Boy now knew more about her than anyone else on the team, and he still so understanding and kind. Beast Boy was the last person she thought would be understanding. She thought that maybe she had misjudged the grass stain.

They said nothing more as they headed back to their rooms, but somehow they did not need to.

* * *

Meanwhile, Robin was having a late night discussion of his own with the General. The elf had barged into his room with barely a knock, and had nearly terrified poor Robin out of a few years.

"What do you want!" he practically screamed, not used to people who just walked in on you when you were in nothing but your boxers preparing to sleep for the night.

The General glared at him "Keep your voice down you imbecile! I thought you wanted to know more about Raven and her father didn't you?"

"Yes," Robin admitted "but I was asleep! Do you ever knock?"

"Do want me to talk to you or not?" the General said and Robin immediately stopped complaining. "I have something important to tell you," the General went on "I think I might know what the unicorn meant about Flario."

"What?" Robin asked.

"Raven," the General said "is remarkably similar to her father. By that I mean she is like Flario. Both of them wanted to help others from an early age, and both wanted to do that by fighting injustice. Both of them left Azarath for Earth for that exact reason, and both were extremely loyal to their friends. In fact, you could almost say that while Raven inherited demon powers from Trigon, her personality came from Flario. For a while Flario was a hero, just like Raven is now."

"What happened?" Robin asked.

"He and a friend of his, a human who called himself the Curse, were battling an evil wizard. The Curse was killed in that battle, and Flario somehow fell into an interdimensional rift. I don't know where he went, but when he came back he was possessed by Trigon."

"This is interesting, but I don't know how this will help Raven." Robin said.

"For years I told Raven that her father's name was Flario. I told her that he was a great hero and a mighty warrior. I did not tell her that he was possessed by Trigon. The reason I did this was because I wanted her to see what I consider to be the truth. Trigon may have Flario's body, but he is not Raven's true father, Flario is. I wanted her to see Trigon as the beast that murdered her father, not as her real kin. I had hoped that when Trigon came for her that she would fight him, not aid him. It…did not work. When she was about to leave for the Makhar a very vindictive old witch of a woman told her about Trigon and Flario, and I had to tell her the whole truth. She thought I had lied to her when I told her that her father was a hero, and she refused to hear any more good things about her father. Eventually she forgave me, but she refuses to talk to me about Flario."

"I'm still not sure why this is important." Robin said "Raven banished Trigon back to his realm. The crisis is over."

"I think…" the General paused. "I think that the unicorn wants the same thing that I want. Somewhere out there is a way to free Flario from Trigon's influence, and I think that Raven is the only one who can do that. But if she sees Trigon and Flario and interchangeable, than she would not want to make the attempt. I think that what the unicorn wants is for Flario to be free, and for that Raven must accept that Trigon and Flario are two separate people."

Robin was not sure about this, but it deserved some thought. He wanted to talk to the General some more, but the elf had already left. Sighing, Robin flopped into the bed, pulled the covers all the way up to his mask (he wore the thing even in his sleep) and was soon snoring soundly.

* * *

Far away that same night another conversation was going on that night, one that could only lead to trouble.

"Are you sure it was her?"

"Positive, my lord." The servant cringed in fear at the voice of his master. The servant knew how merciless his master was, and he did not want to say the wrong thing and end up dead. Or worse, eaten by those…things.

"She has lost her powers?"

"Yes, my lord. Our spies are certain."

"It is no matter." The master said "I do not care about her powers, it is her I want. You shall make sure that she is escorted to me. I care nothing for her companions. Kill them if at all possible, but bring her to me alive and unhurt. If you fail…" the servant felt a long claw touch his neck and he made certain not to breathe too hard "you know what will happen."

The servant scurried out in a near panic. His master looked out the window for a moment, lost in memories.

"Raven," he muttered "You will be mine, this time for good!"

* * *

The early morning sun saw the five Titans and Jinx riding their night horses to the north, while the General headed in the opposite direction back home. He was both happy and sad to see the back of them. Sad because he had wanted to spend a bit more time with Raven. Happy because he would not have to listen to that annoying green pestilence who even now was whining about his abused hind end. How Raven dealt with these hoodlums the General did not know.

As for the Titans, Arucules had been kind enough (even though he was still a bit crotchety) to give them a supply of food for the road. Most of it was of the dried jerky type, and I will not say whether or not it was beef or something else, but there was also a bunch of carrots. Turns out that Beast Boy was indeed going to spend the entire trip living of carrot sticks.

They trotted their way through more plains. Jinx and Starfire were having the time of their lives looking the scenery, and even Beast Boy managed to stop whining to admire the rolling hills and the large patches of multicolored flowers that literally seemed to glitter in the sun. Robin was only interested in watching Starfire cavort around. No matter what he could not get his eyes of her, though he tried to be subtle about it. Raven was also enjoying the ride, but she was not as loud about it as Starfire was. Only Cyborg was bored by the beauty around them. To him a plant was a plant and tree was tree. He did not see any reason to exclaim over them. He was not lying when he said he was a city boy.

Soon however, they came to what any fantasy buff would have expected: a rather dark, foreboding looking forest. It was the kind of forest that looked like it had the kind of trees that ate humans alive. The shadows were deep and creepy and even Raven felt a chill go down her spine. Despite this they entered, each Titan feeling like they were being watched.

And who was to say they were not? Deep within the shadows a pair of eyes that resembled the green muck on the top of a stagnate pond followed their every move, and a long horrid tongue ran over black, broken, cavity ridden teeth in anticipation. It watched as the Titans entered its forest. It then disappeared into the darkness.

To summon the pack.

* * *

An Author's note: You didn't think Sumal was the only villain they would encounter, did you? If he was this story would be completely boring. Who is this nasty guy who wants Raven? And what does he want her for?

Wait and see.

MWAHAHAHAHA! Sorry, I'm showing my evil laugh side again, aren't I? I'll try to keep a lid on that.


	17. Chapter 17

An Author's note: Hmmmmmm….Malchior…It's a good guess, Agent, but unfortunately I can't reveal if you are right or not. Don't want to spoil the surprise! You did, however, get Arella's motivation for having a familiar follow Raven around correct. In this story a familiar and its owner can literally see through each other's eyes (kind of like what Raven did with Robin in Haunted) so having a familiar around would let Arella know what is going on with her daughter.

Hope you aren't squeamish, the creatures that are coming up next are of my own creation and they are rather…gross.

On with the show.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

What's That Smell?

Jinx sniffed the air repeatedly. She smelled something nasty, worse than Gizmo's dirty socks, and those things deserved to be locked in a steel barrel with one of those radiation warning signs.

"What is that? Can anyone else smell that?" she said. "It smells like st!"

"Thanks for the image, Jinx." Raven said mildly.

"No, seriously, I smell some kaka out here! Smells like someone took a really big dump!"

"Jinx-"Raven started, but surprisingly Beast Boy interrupted her.

"She's right, Raven, I smell it too. It does kind of smell like…what she said."

"Now that you mention it I smell it to." Robin sniffed the air. "It's fading now."

_Oh yes, the lovely smells of the forest!_ Cyborg thought _Trees, plants, flowers and animal dung. Wonderful. How people lived like this before civilization I will never know!_

They smelled the rather distinct odor several more times, and each time it was Jinx and Beast Boy who smelled it the worst. At one point they all had the "joy" of scenting the fragrance, but no one knew what had caused it. Since it did not seem to be harmful they did not worry about it. They should have. They were being followed. The owners of the stench were following them closely, and they were hungry.

The forest seemed to stretch on forever and ever and showed no signs of stopping. What made it even stranger and more eerie was the fact that there seemed to be nothing here. No birds chirped, no squirrels chattered, no deer bounded around, it seemed like the forest had been abandoned. They could clearly hear their night horses' footsteps as they rode through the forest. Even Raven, who loved silence more that anything, found this silence to be oppressive and a little on the scary side. She did not like it anymore than the rest of them.

"What happened here?" she muttered aloud.

"Huh?" Cyborg looked at her.

"This is not right. Where are all the animals? And why is it so quiet? I don't like this." Raven looked around. "And I feel like something's watching us. Don't you?"

Cyborg nodded. He didn't like this place at all. He wanted out as soon as possible. No matter how bored he had been with the fields at least the fields did not give off this eerie feeling. He wanted to be somewhere else doing anything else.

Eventually, however, they had to stop. It was approaching noon, although it was hard to tell. The large trees kept this place in what seemed to be eternal night, and it was a very disconcerting night at that. But they were getting hungry, and they had to eat. Raven somehow managed to find a little meadow that might have been pleasant under different circumstances. Not looking forward to eating that strange jerky stuff, but not about to complain, Cyborg dismounted his own horse. He was surprised; however, when Raven did not pull out the meat, instead she grabbed a large bag full of what looked like medicine pellets from under Mithrah's saddle.

"Taking your vitamins?" Cyborg couldn't help but ask.

"These aren't vitamins, they're lunch." She replied.

"Huh? I thought that's what the jerky was for!" Cyborg said.

Raven shook her head "That stuff was for the night horses" she placed a colorful pellet on a rock "this is what we are having."

"Isn't it a bit…small?" Beast Boy asked, staring at the pellet in disbelief.

"Just watch." Raven held both her hands over the pellet and spoke something that everyone assumed was a magic trigger word. Instantly the pellet disappeared in a poof of smoke and in its place was…

A huge cheese pizza.

"Wooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah." Cyborg's mouth fell open. "How did you do that?"

Raven smiled slightly "You think magic doesn't advance the same way technology does? Wizards figured out how to replace modern technology with magical replacements long ago. This is basically a spell that kind of condenses food into small transportable pellets. You don't even have to cook the stuff. Kind of like a magical version of fast food. Much easier to travel with, and you don't really need your own magic to work it. All you need to know is the trigger word. "

"Where did the pizza come from? I didn't see a pizza place." Beast Boy asked.

"Arucules made it. Even though Earth people don't know about Azarath, Azarath knows all about Earth and its cultures. You can walk into a roadside inn anywhere here and order a burger and fries just like you can on Earth, only the burger will be homemade and not precooked and packaged weird. Don't expect a Coke, though, no one has managed to figure soft drinks out yet." Raven picked up a slice of the pizza, which true to her word was nice and hot, and started munching. No one had anymore reservations. They all were starving, and the day that any Titan refused a pizza was the day Trigon would open a skating rink.

"Say what you want about his attitude,"Cyborg said with a loud burp "but that Arucules knows how to make a pizza!" _Raven lived with him for how long? How come she never picked up his cooking skills?_ Cyborg thought as he finished his share of the pizza.

The wind changed direction, and with it came the horrible smell that had haunted them ever since entering the forest. But now it was much stronger and much more noticeable.

Something rustled in the bushes and a low growl echoed throughout the meadow. The Titans leapt up and stood in a circle facing outward, ready for whatever was out there. What looked like hundreds of pairs of brownish-green pond scum eyes glared back at them with hunger. They were surrounded.

Bushes rustled and shook and then finally the things that had been stalking them all this time slowly slinked into view. They were the most horrible things anyone had ever seen: their heads were shaped like goats, their bodies like monkeys, and they had long whippy scaly tails. They had decrepit looking wings with missing black feathers on their backs. No one could tell what colors they were, because they were covered with filth: Their wings were smeared with mud and their claws, teeth and the fur around their faces were caked with brown, old blood. Their fur was also streaked with…well…feces. It was clear now where that smell had come from. They hissed and snarled at the titans hungrily, and everyone could see the fact that said teeth were sharp, and that they did not take any better care of the teeth than they did the rest of them. Beast Boy could clearly here what they were saying, and it sent little chills up and down his spinal column.

_"Kill"_ they were hissing _"Eat them, eat them, eat them. Hungry, hungry, hungry." _

"They're nuts." Beast Boy muttered. "Really nuts. They sound like a pack of rabid dogs."

As soon as he had spoken the creatures leapt for their prey, ready to tear them apart. Beast Boy had an idea. He grabbed the bag of food pellets from Raven's hand and tossed a handful on the ground. He spoke the magic phrase that she had used and the pellets burst into an impressive array of food. Momentarily distracted the monsters dog piled the food in an attempt to consume it all. Soon it had erupted into a brawl; the creatures had been thrown into a savage frenzy. They were trying to munch on each other as well as the food in front of them. Beast Boy saw one of the smaller ones basically eaten alive right there in front of him, and that would give him a few nightmares for a couple of nights.

Not wanting to waste time, Robin jumped on Hotrod and ordered the others to flee, which they did with no hesitation. The only problem was that Cyborg still had not gotten the trick of staying on your night horse and after a few steps he slid off and fell. The things seemed to zero in on him and at least three of them pounced. Cyborg struggled with the things, trying to dislodge them, but they were tougher than they looked. Suddenly he heard and angry whinny from Gigantus. While the night horse certainly did not like Cyborg he liked the monsters even less and he attacked them, pushing them off Cyborg with his horns and electrifying any stupid enough to get in his way. Knowing that the night horse might be his only chance, Cyborg wrapped his arms around Gigantus' neck and let the creature drag him along the ground. For once he was glad he was mostly metal, as he seemed to hit every single loose branch and sharp rock in the forest as they raced after the others.

Soon the Titans were racing thru the forest, trying to lose the monsters that had started to give chase. The things seemed to be everywhere, even in the trees and in the air. The monsters shrieked and screamed and dived bombed them from the sky, their horrible wings bashing the Titans at every opportunity. They lunged from the branches of trees to claw and bite the Titans and the night horses they rode. If something was not done soon someone was going to be dragged from the saddle.

Realizing this, Raven turned to Robin and hollered at him to keep going forwards, than she veered Mithrah off the trail. At first Robin was wondering what she was doing, then he saw Whistler flashing through the air and the sparks leaping of Mithrah's horns. She circled the other Titans like an Indian circling the wagons in an old western; only she was trying to protect the people in the circle with her sword and her night horse. Robin had to wonder how in the world she managed to stay on Mithrah without holding onto the reins, but now was not the time to dwell on Raven's riding skills. Robin saw the trees starting to thin, and knew that they were close to being out of the woods, literally.

Whether or not the monsters would follow them was not certain. With a relived whinny, Hotrod emerged from the trees like a red bullet, followed by the others in swift succession except for Mithrah. Robin turned his horse and stared at the tree line, wondering if he should go back for Raven when she and Mithrah finally burst through the trees. Robin breathed a sigh of relief.

His breath was short lived, just as Raven started to rein in Mithrah a monster shot out of the forest and dragged her to ground in an attempt to maul her. The loud shriek of a peregrine falcon was heard next and a green feathered blur shot past Robin's head as Beast Boy dove toward the monster and knocked it off of Raven's back. The creature tumbled to the ground, and then started to writhe and howl and smoke. The Titans gapped at the thing as it shriveled up and started to melt into the earth. Soon it was nothing more than a bubbling pile of goo, and a black cloud arose from the goo and seemed to waft away in the breeze.

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head and looked at the remains of the creature in confusion "I didn't think I hit it that hard." He said.

"I don't think it was you," Raven said as she got to her feet. She was completely unhurt because of Beast Boy's fast maneuver. She pointed to the forest behind them. "Look."

The creatures were pacing back and forth just inside the tree line hissing and growling in frustration. Occasionally one would howl and lift its leg, as if it was trying to shake its fist.

"They must be venerable to sunlight." Raven said with a disgusted look at the glop. "That's why they are not attacking."

"Raven, what are they?" Robin asked.

She shook her head. "I'm not sure, I've never even heard of them. I don't think they are native to Azarath. Most people are peaceful around here."

"So what are they? The goat monsters from Planet Gross?" Beast Boy asked. Raven shrugged.

The creatures, apparently giving up, slinked back into the forest. Raven watched the spot were they had left, very concerned.

"What do we do?" she asked quietly, but before Robin could answer a cry went up.

"Oh man! Raven! Come here, I think he's hurt!" It was Cyborg. Raven looked and found her friend kneeling over a fallen Gigantus. The poor night horse was on its side and breathing heavily in large gasps. As she approached she saw that Gigantus' flanks were covered in large, deep scratches. Cyborg, who had once claimed that he hated the night horse, was cradling his head and stroking it. He could not help but feel reasonable for the horses' terrible wounds. If only he was a better rider this might not have happened! He felt horrible for the nasty things he had said and thought about Gigantus, especially since he had gone out of his way to save Cyborg.

"Raven, can you do anything? He saved me." Cyborg looked at Raven, now full of concern.

She looked at the slashes for a moment then sighed.

"I don't have anything that can help him…" she said with a strange look that was half thoughtful, but also half scared "But I know what can help him. There is a town near here that has some of the best healing herbs in Azarath. Someone needs to go there and buy some for Gigantus. I can't go, though."

"Why not?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven winced. "They…don't like Halfbloods in that particular town. I'd never be able to buy what we need; they would not sell me anything. Someone else has to go and fetch the medicine."

"I'll go." Jinx said "I'm the only one who will recognize what you need."

"Me too." Beast Boy said. He wanted to keep an eye on Jinx; he still did not really trust her.

"The rest of us will stay here just in case those things come back." Robin eyed the forest as if it was his worst enemy.

"Don't take your night horses; just fly her there, Beast Boy." Raven said.

"Why?"

Raven pointed to the night horses. They had arrayed themselves like a group of solders in a line, facing the forest with expressions similar to Robin's. They pawed the ground and tossed their heads aggressively. It was pretty clear what Raven meant. If the things did come back the night horses would be a great asset.

After listening to Raven explain the workings of Azarathian money, Beast Boy shifted to a pterodactyl and lifted Jinx into the air and flew toward the village.

* * *

Strange lookes followed the two as they walked down the main road. Beast Boy was nervous and wary. These guys seemed very hostile, but he did not know why. He was pretty sure he saw a few people easing pitchforks into view, as if they were preparing for a nice mobbing. Jinx, however, did not seem to notice the looks or if she did she did not care. She was reading shop signs, looking for the place where she could find medicine.

Finally she stopped at a building and said "Good, an alchemist. This place will have what we need."

"Umm, Jinx? Don't take long." Beast Boy eyed the people staring at him "These people look like they want to eat us!"

Jinx looked over at the people and gave them her trademark evil grin. "Just handle em' like you would a crazed dog and don't show fear." She muttered "Bullies like this are worse than any animal, but they react the same way." She then entered the shop and left Beast Boy alone.

The people that had been looking at him now edged closer, and it was clear that they were approaching mob proportions. One particularly aggressive man stepped up to Beast Boy and glared at him.

"We heard about you, you're one of those Earth "superheroes" that took in that filthy demon half-breed! What are you doing here! We don't need your kind around decent people."

Beast Boy glared right back "You call yourself decent, you prejudiced jerk! You don't know a thing about Raven!"

"I know enough. I nearly took care of that thing once and I would gladly do it again!"

"Took care…?" Beast Boy stared at the man, and then what he was saying hit the young shape shifter and threw him into a rage "YOU JACKASS! It was you, wasn't it! You were one of the monsters that tried to kill her!"

"She's the monster! She's the freak! Dirty beast should never have been born!"

"Oh yeeeeeeeees." Jinx said from behind Beast Boy, she had found the medicine in record time and was ready to go when she heard the shouting. Now she was just as angry as Beast Boy. "Raven is completely at fault for being what she is." The pink sorceress continued with sarcasm literally dripping from every word "After all it's not like she didn't have a choice to be born the way she is. Everyone is responsible for who their parents are and what they did years before they were ever even conceived. Kind of like the way you are responsible for the fact that your mamma was a snake and your daddy was a jackal!

"How dare you-"the man began, but Jinx was on a roll.

"HOW DARE YOU! You have no idea what she has to go thru and you spend your time condemning her for no reason you narrow minded, white trash, cow sniffing, st hauling son of a whore!" Beast Boy stared at Jinx with his mouth open, he had never heard anyone insult another like this, and it was rather impressive. And Jinx was not done. "Why don't you take that pitchfork and shove it up your own pie-hole!"

It kind of went downhill from there, five seconds later a rather large green rhino was charging down the road with a pink haired lunatic on its back and a large mob in full chase behind waving pitchforks and other such pointy implements. Beast Boy had decided not to worry about the various wagons and apple carts he was crushing under his large feet, nor did he say anything when Jinx started shooting hex bolts behind them. These people were after their blood, and it was no time for niceties. He weaved and dodged as best he could in an attempt to lose the local crazies, but they were stubbornly persistent.

"Turn around and charge them!" Jinx bellowed in Beast Boy's ear. He snorted in denial, but then his expression changed as she finished what she was saying to him. It was the first time on Azarath that a rhino grinned.

Beast Boy whirled, snorted aggressively and charged at the mob. They stopped and stared for five seconds. Even a mad mob will stop and consider when a large rhino charges at you, especially when the horn looks very sharp. Deciding that they did not want to chase Beast Boy after all, they scattered. Beast Boy knew that he should just run out of the town and leave it at that, but he was still mad and upset. So when Jinx started shouting at him to chase the maniacs, he did.

It was an interesting scene, the once crazy mob was still shouting and waving the pitchforks, but now it was they who were being chased, and instead of screaming "Kill! Kill!" they were instead shouting "Run away!". Beast Boy found himself enjoying this immensely. He focused on the man that had taunted him, pursuing the fool around a cow pasture as the other mob members scattered. After they had circled the pasture for the fifth time Beast Boy decided it was time to end this. Swerving he ran till he was next to his prey and sideswiped him. The fool soared through the air, over the fence and landed in a nice large pile of cow dung.

"Hey, Beast Boy, what's that smell?" Jinx laughed "It smells like a bigoted moron full of st, and it is! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Beast Boy snorted in rhino laughter, he wanted to continue, but he had to get the medicine to the others. He shifted to a pterodactyl, gave the dung decorated fool a screech and flapped off with Jinx still on his back.

_Maybe Jinx is not so bad after all._ He thought as he flapped away.

* * *

"How did it go?" Robin asked as Beast Boy and Jinx landed.

"We got the medicine." Beast Boy said as he shifted back. "But I don't think we should go near that town anytime soon."

"Why?" Robin said with a suspicious look. He knew from Beast Boy's stance that something had happened.

"Let's just say that we were chased away by a mob." Beast Boy said as Jinx walked over to Raven with the medicine. Raven and Cyborg had both been hovering over Gigantus.

"Beast Boy, what happened?" Robin said, and Beast Boy shifted around.

"Ummm, well, you see…" Beast Boy explained a bit of what happened, exaggerating the bloodthirstiness of the mob and playing down the parts where he had turned the tables and chased them. Robin looked thoughtful.

"We probably should not stay here long." Robin said. "I don't want to find an angry mob at our heels."

Beast Boy nearly sighed in relief. He didn't believe that he had done a thing wrong, but he knew that Robin would not be particularly proud of the fact that one of his team had destroyed several apple carts and terrorized some civilians.

Beast Boy walked over to check on Raven and Gigantus. She had brought out a small pot of bright red salve and was smearing it on the night horse's wounds. Gigantus winched and whined, but he was somewhat still.

Raven finished and turned to Robin "We should probably stay here for the night so Gigantus can heal."

"We can't Raven." Beast Boy said, and explained to her what happened in town. She did not look happy.

"Well, we can't leave Gigantus here and he can't walk." She said.

"I'll carry him." Cyborg said. "It'll probably be a nice change for him."

"I shall help friend Cyborg carry friend Gigantus." Starfire said "Between the two of us we can handle him with minimal worries."

Robin could not think of a better plan. They marched in single file away from the forest and the village. Robin, Beast Boy, Jinx and Raven were riding, and Starfire and Cyborg were each supporting Gigantus, who looked very embarrassed about the whole deal. Starfire's night horse followed behind Starfire, looking very confused.

Night started to fall, and the team started looking for a place to sleep. They finally settled on a pleasant looking, not to mention defendable, hill. Robin decided that they needed to set a watch in case those monsters came back. Since Cyborg didn't really need to sleep he volunteered to go first.

The others started unloading the night horses of the sleeping bags they had been storing behind the saddles. While Raven was spreading out her bag she felt someone's eyes on her. She looked and saw Beast Boy giving her an odd look.

"Got a problem?" she asked, and Beast Boy seemed to snap out of it.

"No, no problem." He said hastily. He yawned and curled up in his green bag "Night Rae." He said and soon gentle snoring was heard from the bag.

Now, however, it was Raven who was staring at Beast Boy. She did not know why, but for some reason it was hard to look away from him, even though she usually liked avoiding him. For some reason she felt very…odd around him. She had no idea what was going on, and she was a bit afraid of it. She remembered back to when they had almost kissed and felt a surge of inexplicable disappointment. Yawning herself she started to fall asleep, but she could not get a certain green shape shifter out of her mind.

**

* * *

"Welcome back." Raven opened her eyes and saw Malachi. The dragon was a bit more distinct now, and now Raven could see that the dragon's right leg was twisted at an odd angle, as if it was hurt.**

**"What happened to your leg?" Raven asked.**

**"What leg?" Malachi asked.**

**"Your leg! The right one, it looks like its hurt." Raven said.**

**"Oh, don't worry about it." Malachi snorted "It's been that way for years. Nothing wrong with it."**

**_It looks like you're crippled you loon._ Raven thought, but she did not say what she was thinking aloud.**

**"Are you okay?" the dragon asked. "You look a little down."**

**Raven bristled. "I'm fine."**

**Malachi stared at her "Liar." She finally said.**

**"Nothing's wrong." Raven insisted.**

**"Oh bull! I can tell something's wrong."**

**"What makes you think you can tell?! You don't know me!"**

**"I can tell." The dragon stubbornly stuck to her claim.**

**"Nothing is wrong!"**

**"Methinks the dragon doth protest too much." Malachi said smugly.**

**"Sweet Azar!" Raven groaned "First philosophers, then Meat Loaf now Shakespeare! What is wrong with you!?"**

**"I've got really eclectic tastes." Malachi said proudly "But don't change the subject. Tell me what is wrong. You'll feel better if you do."**

**"Leave me alone." Raven said as she turned away. She felt the dragon's claw touch her shoulder in the same way a human would to give comfort. **

**And then:**

**FLASH**

**_She sat in the front of the classroom intent upon a paper full of math problems. The teacher was trying to get her attention but she ignored him because he was not using her real name again._**

**_"Elisabeth! Elisabeth answer the question or you will be reported to the principal!"_**

_**She looked up "Are you addressing me?"**_

_**"Of course I am Elisabeth!!"**_

_**"For the last time that's not my name! My name is Malachi!"**_

_**"Malachi is not the proper name for a lady!"**_

_**"My name is Malachi."**_

**FLASH**

**_"Freak"_**

**_"Weirdo"_**

**_Reading in the cafeteria was frustrating. All those stupid people tying to bother her. Trying to get under her skin with their derogatory comments. She refused to let them know how much they were hurting her._**

_**"You know what I heard? I heard that she's an ax murderer! Don't go near her house at night or she'll chop you up and feed you to her dogs!"**_

_**She sighed. They were all alike. Dumb girls.**_

**FLASH**

_**"Oh vision of loveliness!"**_

_**"Jonas! We are in public!" she growled at the blind idiot following her. Literally blind, Jonas had been blind since birth. Maybe that was why he was her friend.**_

_**"Oh wondrous goddess!"**_

_**"I swear I'm going to leave you in the parking lot!"**_

_**"Oh-"**_

_**"Joe, if you start quoting Shakespeare again I swear…" She grumbled.**_

_**"Malachi." He said, and now he was being serious "I love you."**_

_**She sighed. "Joe…I know."**_

**FLASH**

**_They surrounded her, the monsters that she had no name for. But what did you call something that was a cross between a goat, a monkey, a bird, a lizard and a garbage bin? _**

_**She opened up her wings and launched herself at them, flames erupting from her mouth to scorch.**_

**Raven pulled back her head and gasped. Those things in that last…vision. They were the same things she and the others encountered in the forest! What was that! Were those some of Malachi's memories?**

**"Malachi…I saw…I think I saw parts of your life!"**

**"Same here, who is Slade?" she asked.**

**"A villain." Raven answered.**

**"Who was the kid dressed like a traffic light?"**

**"Robin."**

**"Hump. Cute name for such an uptight guy."**

**"Malachi?"**

**"Yes." The dragon looked at Raven.**

**"The last thing I saw…was a group of monsters with goat heads, monkey bodies, wings and tails. What are they?" Raven asked.**

**"I never found out. They destroyed my home. My entire world was consumed by those things." Malachi said with hatred.**

**"Malachi…I've encountered them before." Raven explained what she had seen in the forest. Malachi looked angry and disturbed.**

**"Raven" she said "If those things are in your world you are in real trouble. Very real trouble indeed."**

* * *

An Author's note: Shakespeare quote was from Hamlet. I don't own Hamlet. Or Teen Titans. I do own Malachi and Jonas and the "goat monsters from Planet Gross". 


	18. Chapter 18

An Author's note: Well it seems like I've added two new readers to my list: tenshijaki and ragingphoenix. Thanks for checking out my story. Hope I can keep everyone nice and entertained. And just so you know, ragingphoenix, this story is going to be pretty long. I have a very persistent muse (not as talkative as Tenshi's, but very persistent. In fact mine does not talk at all, at least not as far as I know.)

I regret to inform everyone that my poor little laptop, the Clunker, seems to have passed on to laptop heaven. Poor thing and I only had it for a year! It is very sad. Please observe a moment of silence for the Clunker, the vehicle which brought you all those nice chapters.

However, because of the Clunker's downfall I managed to get a brand new Toshiba that is not another hand-me-down like the Clunker was.

Okay, enough of that. On with the show.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

Storms

Robin felt someone shaking him awake, which he did not what to be at the moment. He was dreaming, an interesting dream that included him and Starfire alone in a lake house in the mountains somewhere where there where no villains or teammates within a hundred miles. Very reluctantly he opened his eyes and saw Raven kneeling beside him, looking worried, something she did not usually look.

"Raven, what's wrong?" he asked, trying not to sound annoyed by the fact that Raven had interrupted him during the part when Star decided to go swimming in the lake in a bikini.

"I have to talk to you." She said "You remember right before I was captured by Sumal? The dream I had?"

Robin thought for a moment. Oh, yeah, the one with the dragons. He nodded.

"Well…I've kind have been having more of them."

"What!?" Robin was wide awake now "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I was kind of distracted by the whole lost powers thing." Raven growled "But that is not important, just listen to me for a moment."

Raven told him about her experiences with Malachi. When she got to the part when they had transferred memories, and the ensuing revelations, Robin was astounded.

"So this Malachi has encountered those things before? What did she tell you about them?"

"She calls them the Uglies, but she doesn't know what they are really called. She says that when they invaded her world they literally consumed everything they could, and what they did not eat they destroyed or spoiled. She says that she managed to get some refugees away and they moved to another dimension called Dermiania. Apparently Malachi does a lot of dimension hopping. She does not know where the monsters came from, but she said that if they are allowed to spread too far they will try to do the same thing here on Azarath that did on her world."

"Wake the others up." Robin said, now completely serious "We have to figure out what to do next."

The others listened silently while Raven told them about Malachi and what she had told Raven. Mingled expressions of doubt and fear were soon etched on the other Titan's faces.

"How do we know that this dragon is being honest? I mean the last one wasn't exactly Mr. Truthful." Beast Boy said with a strangely angry expression.

"But if it is for real, then what?" Cyborg said "If these things really do kill and eat everything they see and if they spread…a lot of people could get hurt. We can't just walk along as if nothing is wrong! We have to do something."

Robin looked at Raven "They both have a point. I'm not sure trusting dragons is the right thing, but I know I could not live with myself if these monsters end up destroying Azarath. Do you think we should trust Malachi or not?"

"But dude, think about this!" Beast Boy said "Malachi…Malchior. Don't the names seem a little too similar? What if it's really Malchior giving Raven these dreams? What if he is trying to trick her again!?"

"I'm pretty sure that Malachi is a female dragon. Plus she's green, not black. And…she's actually not technically a dragon. She's a human/Beastlord Halfblood with the soul and powers of the Dragon of Time. She's Dragonborn. And as for her name, I happen to know that Malachi was the name of a Biblical prophet in the Old Testament. I think the name translates to 'God's messenger' or something like that. I'm not sure if Malchior's name means anything, but I do know that it is not Biblical." Raven replied.

"But that doesn't change the fact that it might be Malchior in disguise. I don't know much about magic, but if he can impersonate a wizard why not another dragon?" Beast Boy said.

Raven sighed "For once Beast Boy you have come up with a completely possible scenario. It is possible that Malchior could be using a dream to influence me, and this whole thing could be another one of his lies, but…If it is real, and Malachi is being honest then those things can be a serious threat to Azarath. I…I don't want to lose this place again!"

"Again?" Beast Boy looked at her completely puzzled.

"Remember when you guys went to the shrine under the old library? When I had gone back to the Tower I tried to go back to Azarath, but Trigon interrupted my spell and threw me into an illusion that made me believe that I had reached here, but that here had been destroyed. For a while I really thought I had lost this place until after I vanquished Trigon. I checked back and found Azarath safe and sound but…I don't want to go thru losing my home again. I don't really like everyone here, but it is still my homeland." Raven took a deep breath. "I have an idea. I think we should continue on with our journey, but I think we should make a brief detour. We edge close to the kingdom of the Caninoids. I know their ruler pretty well. If we can warn him about these monsters than maybe something can be done. And it is not too far out of the way."

Robin nodded "It's a good idea. Tomorrow we will head to this Caninoid kingdom. Raven, the next time you have a dream about Malachi tell us about it, alright?"

Raven agreed readily, after the Malchior incident she was not going to take any chances.

* * *

"So remind me again why we have to take a boat?" Jinx said with utter disgust for the word "boat".

"It is quicker than taking the land road. I've told you that before." Raven said as she led Mithrah up the plank to the boat she managed to hire for them. They were in a small port town no different than the last town, except for the fact that it had a dock. And the fact that the people did not care if you were a Halfblood as long as you had money. In fact judging from the greedy looks some of the citizens were giving them it could be said that these people would take money from just about anyone at all.

"Say it again." Jinx glared at the leaky looking thing before her in distaste. She had not even gotten aboard the thing yet and she was already feeling sea sick. She hated boats.

"You see that body of water over there?" Raven was losing her patience. "The large obvious one? That is Kahlarur's Bay. It's practically a mini sea. If we try going around it will take us at least a week. Crossing by boat will only take us two days. We are strapped for time here, Jinx. We are taking the boat."

Jinx ground her teeth. She couldn't even deal with nice modern boats that moved nice and smoothly, let alone this horribly rocking…thing! Ug! This was going to be horrible!

Little did the Titans know that someone was watching them as they walked aboard. This person smiled when he saw where they were going. They were making this far too easy!

Once they were off the fun began! At least it did for Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy and Robin. Cyborg and Beast Boy were trying to teach Starfire the words to "A Pirate's Life for Me" even though they did not know all the words or the tune. Robin did not participate, but he was amused by their antics and watching them closely, particularly a certain alien princess. Raven just rolled her eyes and muttered something about boys and aliens. Poor Jinx, however, was utterly miserable leaning over the side of the boat and expelling everything inside her stomach to the waves.

"Beast Boy, you are aware that you are performing a river dance, not a jig, correct?" Raven asked as the green moron went prancing by her. Her eyes got even more exercise as the idiot leaned over front of the boat and declared himself king of the world. Then she grinned inwardly. Sneaking up to Beast Boy she lightly shoved him from his perch. He did not hit the water, but ended up shifting to osprey and flapping madly so he was not run over by the swiftly moving ship.

"Is it at all possible for you to act your own age?" Raven asked the disgruntled looking green bird.

"Nah." Beast Boy said as he sifted back "I'd much rather be the modern day version of Peter Pan. I don't think I'll ever grow up! Not completely at least."

Raven sighed "Beast Boy, growing older is a biological function. You can't just stop your own age."

"I never said I wasn't going to grow older, I just said I wasn't going to grow up. Just because my body gets old does not mean I have to stop doing the things I like to do." Beast boy grinned at her "its kind if like you. Your only seventeen but you still act like you are years older than that." Realizing what he just said might be offensive to Raven he tried to explain further "I mean, you're so smart and insightful and all of that, but that had nothing to do with your age."

Raven blinked. Did Beast Boy just say something bordering on profound? Surly the world must once again be ending! But she had to admit that he had a point. This irked her greatly. He was looking at her again. It was an odd look, something that was akin to admiration, but somehow different. She was not sure how to respond to this.

"Soooooo," beast Boy said, trying to fill the awkward silence that had now emerged "You mentioned Beastlords a while back. What's a Beastlord?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious, and since I can become an animal I figure this is something I should know."

"Well, Beastlords are a species that can communicate and turn into animals." Raven explained "They resemble humans, but they really are a separate species all their own. They can breed with humans, but I think they are biologically different than humans. There are not many Beastlords left, however. A lot of them died out. In fact in this dimension they are pretty much extinct, though you do find some half-Beastlords running around."

"So they are like me?" Beast Boy asked.

"Only in the fact that they can become animals, for one thing they are not green. Unlike you, they can only turn into one animal per Beastlord, instead of being able to turn into multiple animals. However they can communicate with all animals, and they even have a special ability to command animals. Basically, if a Beastlord where to use his command ability on you than you would be compelled to obey."

Beast Boy shivered. That thought was a bit on the scary side. He didn't like not being in control of his own body. Then he remembered something else.

"You mentioned that your mother can talk to animals, is she-"

"No, she just talks to animals; she can't become one or command one. She gets that ability from her Nazlar half. Remember I told you that she also has a bit of Nazlar blood. Not as much as I do, but enough to give her the abilty to communicate with animals. Most Nazlar have the ability to talk with animals, in fact I've heard that they can also communicate with plants as well as animals."

"So, if you are more Nazlar then her, then why can't you talk with animals? And I know for a fact that you can't, because I would have been able to tell by now."

Raven shrugged "I just never developed that ability. I'm not sure why."

"You should try. It'd by cool for me to be able to talk to someone while I'm in another form. Why don't you try it?"

Just as she was preparing to answer Beast Boy the wind started to pick up. She looked and saw dark storm clouds approaching. This was odd, very odd. There should not be storms like this in the Bay at this time of year. The captain noticed this as well, and started giving out commands to his sailors. Robin volunteered the Titans to help, and the captain accepted. However, it was very clear that Jinx was going to be useless, and Cyborg began to help her below to recover.

They were halfway down the deck when the wind and rain suddenly hit the boat with the force of a giant delivering a punch. It was so quick, and powerful and unexpected that it swung a loose beam toward Cyborg and Jinx. Unable to dodge in time, Cyborg tried to protect Jinx with his body. The end result was they were both thrown into the sea, which in the space of two minutes had gone from nice and blue and calm to rocky and grey with huge waves. Almost instantly the two were swept away out of sight.

Knowing that only two of his team could possibly retrieve the two Titans overboard, Robin bellowed "Starfire and Beast Boy go get them and bring them back!"

Beast Boy leaped into the angry waves without fear, turning into a dolphin on the way down. It was not a bit calmer down below, but unlike a human a dolphin could handle a storm pretty well. He swam off in the direction he thought that the two had landed, echo locating as he went.

Starfire, who could fly in the fast reaches of space without even a spacesuit, flew into the sky without fear. He only concern was visibility. She hoped that she would be able to see her friends in this weather, and that she would be able to reach the ship in time.

Robin watched Starfire fly away with concern. He knew that she would be fine, but he could not help worrying about her. Something, a six sense, warned him of danger, and he turned around just in time to receive a large plank to the face. Not completely prepared for this he sank to the deck, wondering what had hit him. He heard Raven screaming angrily at someone, but he could not seem to concentrate. His eyes closed as he drifted into unconsciousness.

Raven had been astonished when one of the sailors had hit Robin from behind like that. Shouting angrily she brought her sword up and lunged at the man who had attacked her friend for no reason, but the other sailors ganged up on her. Still, she fought pretty well, and might have even won but for the fact that the captain grabbed Robin's unconscious form and gently explained to Raven that if she did not cooperate then she would get to see another one of her friends thrown into the sea. Gritting her teeth in frustration and desperately wishing for her powers, Raven dropped Whistler and allowed the treacherous sailors to tie her hands behind her back. She could feel the memories of Sumal creeping up on her and threatening to surface, but she fought the panic attack down by mentally repeating her mantra over and over in her head. It seemed to help a bit. Even when they blindfolded her she did not fall apart like she had during the battle with Killer Moth, Kitten and Fang.

She heard someone chanting something and heard the familiar whoosh of a transport spell being activated. They were taking her and Robin somewhere, and it was very possible that the others would be unable to track them.

She only wished she knew why they were doing this, and where they were going.

* * *

Robin opened his eyes, but he still could not see a thing. He wondered if the blow to the head had rendered him blind, but then his eyes adjusted and he saw that he was just in a dark cell that did not have any lights other than the practically mandatory flickering candles. He noticed that someone had chained him to a wall. Normally this would not have been too much of a problem due to the fact that he owned several lock picks and a few skeleton keys and kept all of them in his costume, except for the fact that he no longer had a costume on. Some intelligent someone had decided that the best way to remove all of his gadgets was to literally strip him to his…well his underwear.

"Hagggggrrrrrrrrr. Awake are you?" Robin heard someone in the cell with him "Such a fuss they make over a small little thing like you. Why I wonder?"

Robin looked over and saw what appeared to be a huge white wolf with large bat wings that was easily the size of Mithrah. It had intelligent golden eyes and it was either smiling at him or snarling at him. Robin could not really tell.

"Please don't tell me that you are the interrogator, are you?" Robin said.

The wolf yipped in what Robin supposed was amusement. It sounded like amusement. He hoped it was amusement.

"Not me." the wolf replied, and turned his head. Robin now noticed the huge metal collar around the wolf's neck. It was attached to the wall just like Robin's chains. So this creature was a fellow prisoner. And possibly an ally?

"I was with a friend, have you seen her?" Robin asked.

"They only brought you here. If a friend you have then she was taken someplace else. Not here." The wolf replied.

"Did you here anything, maybe? Her name is Raven and-"

"Raven! Raven!" The wolf lunged at Robin, and he was afraid he was about to get his head bitten off, but the wolf did not hurt him; he just got in Robin's face, mouth open and teeth glittering. "Raven Roth, is that who you mean? Little half-Nazlar with a red chakra gem? Is that who you mean? Daughter of Flario?"

"Yes, that's her. She's my friend."

"Ahoooooooooooooooo!" the wolf howled "No! No! Now he has her! Poor little one! My pack is doomed now! I should never have left her!"

"You know Raven?" Robin looked at the wolf.

"Yes. Yes. Here my howl, little human." The wolf pulled away from Robin and he allowed himself to breath "Once I was a familiar to a human named Hadiran. Good little human he was, and my packmate as well as a friend. He trained as Makhar with another little female named Raven. She was friend to me as well, but never did she admit it. Fooled she was by an evil Halfblood named Sanath. He pretended to be a packmate, but he was a liar. One day he killed my human for his friendship with Raven. Ever since then I have tried to get revenge on Sanath for hurting and destroying my pack, but my hunt has been a failure."

"Who is this Sanath, Raven's never mentioned him to me."

"Sanath" the wolf growled the name "Is crazy Halfblood in head. Has the drooling sickness, I think, or something akin to it. Wants to hunt all who are not Halfblood. He is an evil monster that does not deserve the life which That-Who-Created-All-Things gave him."

That did not sound good. Robin looked at the wolf. "What does he want with Raven. I know what she is, but she isn't the type to start a race war. I know her, and she is not like that."

"I know that, silly little Deaf One." The wolf replied "Did you not hear when I said that Sanath is crazy in the head? He thinks to make her his mate, is what I think."

"WHAT! Did she…I mean…how would he get that idea!" Robin bellowed.

"No interest in Sanath did Raven ever show. She is probably not even aware that Sanath has been sniffing around her for years. Where did he get that idea? Maybe the little people in his head told him this. I do not know, and I do not care. I wish to taste his blood on my tongue, and I care about helping Raven. What does it matter what Sanath thinks? All that matters is that he is stopped. Now answer this, Oh Deaf One, who are you and how do you know my pack sister?"

"I'm Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans. She joined my team on Earth about a year and a half ago."

"So she is of your pack now. That does not change a thing, but it is good to know that she has found good packmates to hunt with. I feared that she would be ever alone. It is not good that a human be alone. They are like the Kin in that way, we both need packs. Deaf your kind may be, but you are like my people in many important ways." The wolf looked a bit puzzled. "But why do you name yourself after a little prey-bird? Seems that is a silly name."

"That's, a bit on the private side. Let's just say that it was in honor of my parents."

"Say no more, then, Prey-Bird. A vow to a sire and a dame should never be broken."

"Could you tell me your name?" Robin asked.

"Herggggg. Prey-Bird, your kind could no more say my true name that you could truly tweet and fly. Your kind calls me Winterwing, and I suggest that is what you call me."

"Okay, now." Robin said "How do we get out of here, Winterwing?"

"That I do not know, Prey-Bird. That I do not know."

* * *

Raven was being led…somewhere. She was not sure where, because of the blindfold. She was sure that they were indoors, because she could not feel the wind or anything like that, and she was also sure that they were no longer at sea, because she could feel solid ground beneath her feet. Oh, and the stairs gave it away as well. She was being led up some stairs, and there were a lot of stairs. She had been going up them for about thirty minuets. She must be someplace big and probably very high. She was sure she was being led in an upwards direction, so she was probably going to be put in a tower somewhere.

She wondered what they had done to Robin. They had better not have hurt him! Raven had never had brothers until Cyborg and Robin had come along, and she was not interested in losing them now. She was a bit concerned for the others, but not as much as she was for Robin. They, after all, were free and she and Robin were not. It crossed her mind that they might be hurt from the storm, but knowing Beast Boy and Starfire they were probably fine. She now guessed was magical in nature. Only a magic storm could have blown that hard that quickly with no warning. She bet someone had probably set a trap for them, and it was pretty annoying how quickly the Titans had fell for it.

_Should have known that captain was crooked after he quoted that price to me! _Raven mentally berated herself_ Ships never go that cheap! Boy, I really can be an idiot when I put my mind to it!_

Whoever had captured her, they were sure being gentle about it. Unlike Sumal, who had been perfectly happy letting his mindless drones drag her around, these people were practically treating her with kid gloves, as if they were afraid of hurting her. She wondered why.

She heard a door open and close, and she assumed they had reached whatever cell they were planning on throwing her in. She was led a little bit further, and then she felt something cool and metal touching her ankle and some chains rattling. She did not need to be told what that was. She then felt hands untying the blindfold, and at last she could see. She had considered hitting the first person she saw on general principles, but the sight of her new prison made her freeze in horror.

She knew this room. The silk curtains, the huge bed, the well carved desks and chairs, the fireplace, everything was familiar, though she had not been here in years. For Pete's sake she had played here as child!

This was the bedchamber of King Norcklex and the late Queen Heryea, the rulers of the Caninoids. Well, Raven supposed that it could not be called Queen Heryea's room anymore, since she was…well…gone.

But why would King Norcklex want to kidnap her and hurt her friends? She knew the king well; heck he was like an uncle to her! She could remember him watching her play with his son, Prince Arcktos, and even playing with them whenever the courtiers were not around to complain. Norcklex was a kind man; he would never do something like this!

Yet…this was his room, Raven had not one doubt about that. She remember it well. Instinctively her eyes flew to a certain dresser beside the bed. A dresser that had once held a nice little secret present for Queen Heryea. Raven wondered idly if the present was still there. After all, Heryea never found it. Heryea was…

The door started opening again. Starled, Raven turned as someone walked in. It was not King Norcklex or Arcktos or anyone else that Raven would have liked to see. In fact, she would have much preferred the ghost of the Queen to walk in to the person that was coming now.

He was about the same size as Cyborg, but a bit less on the broad side. He had huge white horns that almost resembled a single loop-de-loop on a roller coaster, they kind of looped in the middle and pointed forwards. He had short black fur and large cloven hooves. He did, of course, have claws as most minotaur's did, even though he was only half minotaur. His face was…distorted. It was not quite Nazlar but not exactly minotaur either. He was, in fact, very ugly, but that was not why Raven looked at him with such loathing in her eyes.

"Sanath!" she growled, and if she still had her powers her eyes would not have just glowed red; they would have split completely into four.

Sanath grinned, his sharp teeth flashing.


	19. Chapter 19

An Author's note: This chapter will contain a few lines from the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. I don't own this poem (but I did read it every night before I went to bed when I was little. It's very special to me). I knew this poem long before I had even heard of Teen Titans. It's part of the reason I first cracked up laughing when I first saw the episode Nevermore. Who else thinks that those little birds should have recited to poem to Cyborg and Beast Boy?

Just remember: I do not own the poem. I do not own Teen Titans. I really don't own anything. Life's tough, isn't it?

Well, on with the show!

Chapter Eighteen

* * *

"YOU!" Raven snarled as she stared at her old "friend". "You murderer! What are you doing here?"

"Fulfilling my destiny." Sanath replied with a strange light in his eyes. "Freeing our people from oppression, just like I told you I would." He came closer to her which she did not like at all. She looked around for something to throw at him, but someone had removed all throw able objects from the room.

"I missed you Raven." Sanath said with a vague look on his face.

"And I had hoped that I would never see you again!" Raven said.

"Is that anyway to talk to your only real friend?" He said with an evil look.

"You're no friend of mine! You killed Hadiran! You lied to me and you used me! I hate you!"

"You don't mean that," Sanath said. "The filthy Fullbloods have poisoned your mind."

"The only poison in this room is you, Sanath!" Raven said and tried to hit him. Unfortunately, Sanath was faster than her and he grabbed her by the wrist. Still furious, Raven punched and kicked and even tried to bite the big Halfblood, but he had a good grip on her arm and he was bigger and stronger than her.

"Now stop that." Sanath said as if he were speaking to a child. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You already have!" Raven bellowed and she kicked him in the family jewels. This made him let go of her, and she ran to the other end of the room, still looking for something, anything, she could use as a weapon. Suddenly the chain attached to her ankle was yanked and she fell to the ground. Sanath had grabbed the thing and was now reeling her in like a fish. She did not struggle, but waited until she was close enough and kicked back at Sanath with both her legs. He dodged her and swung the chain around, tangling it around her legs in an attempt to tie her up. Once her legs where restrained he grabbed her arms and then threw her on the big bed in the middle of the room.

"Stop that." He said again, and this time his voice was stern and a little on the murderous side. Raven froze now completely terrified. The way Sumal had looked at her had been bad enough, but the look Sanath was giving her was even worse. Now instead of feeling like a soon to be slaughtered pig she now felt like the slice of bacon on a hungry person's plate. Sumal's lack of emotion had been bad enough, this hungry look was even worse.

_He wouldn't…would he?_ She thought _Oh, Azar, NO!_ She thought as Sanath started stroking her hair. Terrified of what she thought was to come she started struggling even harder, but this time she was simply driven by pure and utter horror.

"Stop that right now," Sanath said again "unless you want to see that little midget in the dungeon with his head on a stake. I can even have it delivered to your room, if you want."

"Midget? You mean Robin?" She said, now terrified for her leader.

"Yes, I hear they call him Wonderboy…or was it Wonderbread? Oh, well, it does not matter. If you don't stop fighting me he will be Wonderheadless. Do you understand?"

Raven swallowed. Great. Now if she did not do whatever this maniac wanted then it would be Robin who would suffer. But if she did…

No, better her to suffer than another one of her friends. She would not let another friend die at this lunatic's hands! She stopped struggling and let Sanath do to her what he wanted.

Surprisingly he did not want…what any other man in this sort of situation would have wanted. He simply relaxed there on the bed with her, talking. Not as bad as it could have been, but the situation still made Raven sick. Most of Sanath's chatter was about his "brilliant" plan to rule the Fullbloods of both Earth and Azarath. She listened in absolute horror as he yammered on. Not only had those…creatures that Malachi had referred to as the Uglies been summoned by HIM, Sanath had also used them to conquer this kingdom, but he planned on using them to take over the rest of Azarath as well. Once he was done here than he planned on moving on to Earth.

"What happened to the king and prince of this land?" Raven asked.

"What do you think? They had to be disposed of. I killed the king with my own hands, but that little mutt of his escaped. We will find him, though. It will only be a matter of time."

Raven felt sick. The king had been so kind to her when she was little, even though he had known what she was. Now he had been murdered by Sanath, who had once been one of Raven's closest friends. She could not help but feel a bit on the reasonable side, even though she had been on Earth at the time. However, she had talked to Sanath about her friends here, and now she deeply regretted that.

"What do you want from me?" Raven growled.

Sanath started stroking her face, and Raven struggled not to throw up. She would only end up soiling herself, and it might set Sanath off.

"It is simple." He said, either no noticing or not caring that the object of his affection could not stand him "I plan on ruling both worlds as king, but I will need a queen to do that."

_Oh, Azar he is going where I think he is going with this! This is just plain ridiculous! I'm not even PRETTY for Azar's sake!_

"I want you to marry me, Raven."

Now let's take another trip into Nevermore. Every single emotion, from Love to Wisdom and everyone in between, every one of them shrieked in perfect harmonious chorus:

"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" The sound made a flock of four-eyed ravens take flight with loud screeching protests.

After that there was the sound of a lot of emotions retching and dry heaving. Even Lust, who was not very particular, was disgusted.

Now back to reality.

"I can understand if you are a bit hesitant." Sanath said after a long moment of shocked silence. "But think of it this way. If you do not marry me, then I cannot guarantee the safety of your little friend." He then leaned over and kissed Raven, who tried not to let the bile loose on his face.

He stood up and started to leave, but before he went he turned and said "Think about it."

Raven managed to wait a full ten minuets. Then she rushed to the window and released the remains of her last meal into the air to be free.

Ten more minutes later she ended up staggering back to bed, mainly because she felt exhausted from throwing her food into space. Soon she was on the bed and starting to fall asleep.

* * *

"**Akk! What a minute! You are not supposed to be here yet! It's only been a week!" Malachi started in surprise.**

**"What!" Raven stared "Malachi! What are you doing here? I thought it would be weeks until I could talk to you again! And for your information it has only been about half a day!"**

**"Sorry, kid, but it's been a week where I am." Malachi replied.**

**"That's impossible! Unless…you said that you are in a different dimension?" Raven said.**

**"Yep."**

**"There…must be a time gap between the two. The two dimensions are operating on different time coordinates. For me it's just been half a day, but for you it's been a week."**

**"Yeah, a friend of mine named Dralor said this might be the case. He's a wizard. Kind of a strange guy, but he's alright. So, what are you doing? Taking an afternoon nap?"**

**"I…" Raven said, still filled with doubts about the dragon. However, it would be nice to talk to someone about this situation. All she had to do was not tell Malachi anything about the team that Malchior didn't know. It would be tricky, but it could be done.**

**She told Malachi most of what she had already told Malchior about the Titans. Then she took a bit of a risk. She told Malachi what was happing right now in Azarath, and a bit about Sanath. Nothing deeply personal, but enough for Malachi to get the general picture.**

**For her part Malachi knew very well that she was not getting the whole story. She did not mind though. It was clear to her that this Raven did not trust others easily, and it might take a while for her to open up. For some reason Malachi had felt a kinship toward Raven ever since the memory transfer. She did not know why, but she was a dragon who usually went along with her feelings.**

**When Raven had finally told Malachi most of the story, the green dragon snorted and moved closer to Raven, dragging her crippled hind leg a bit. The look on her face was very angry. **

**"I suggest," the green dragon said "That you tear out this Sanath guy's lungs and use 'em for bagpipes."**

**"Bagpipes?" Raven said.**

**"Only instrumental music worth listing to is bagpipe music." Malachi maintained "Old Celtic stuff is good too, but bagpipes are best." **

**Raven shook her head. Bagpipes! Would she ever be able to figure out this dragon?**

**"Yep," Malachi continued "that guy's lungs would do much better as bagpipes than they would be for keeping him alive. More bagpipes and less rapist fools, in my opinion."**

**"Well, he never actually touched me."**

**"Kid, do you want to marry him?" Malachi said.**

**"I'd rather marry Cyborg's car!"**

**"So if you do end up hitched to this slimeball it will be because you have been forced into it. Therefore anything you do later in a bedroom at night will be rape, even if you are not saying no. Plus, how old are you?"**

**"Seventeen."**

**"And he is?"**

**"Twenty-five…I think."**

**"Then it will be statutory rape as well. In which case forget the lungs, his manhood will have to be removed and roasted over a fire." Malachi said "Raven, you really have to get out of there!"**

**"I know, I know! I just wish I knew how!" Raven said "This is all my fault!" she blurted.**

**Malachi snorted and stared at Raven as if she had lost her mind. "Your fault? What kind of bull is that?! I ask you, did you ask this Sanath moron to capture you?"**

**"No but-"**

**"Did you drive him nuts?"**

**"No-"**

**"Did you summon a storm and get rid of four of your friends and tell Captain Brutus to stuff this Robin guy in a cage?"**

**"N-"**

**"Then what in Jesus name makes you think that this is your fault!"**

**"Ummmm."**

**"Kid, you are not at fault here. Heck, you're the freaking victim! Don't give me that beaten down woman horse dung about it being 'your' fault, because it is not your fault!"**

**"Okay! Sweet Azar you are opinionated!" Raven said.**

**"Part of the job." Malachi said. Then a thoughtful look crossed her face. "You know if this guy summoned the Uglies, than I think I can help out a bit! I don't think I can help you physically, but I can give you some good information!"**

**"What?"**

**"To summon Uglies you need to rip a dimensional gate into their realm. Find the gate and close it and you stop the flow of Uglies. You can't just go there and kill them all, though. The darned things regenerate after death, it's very annoying. But close the gate and they can't come to your home anymore. Once that gate is gone you can destroy the other Uglies. Their sprits will transcend back home and regenerate there, so they will not come back to your home unless someone rips another gate."**

**"Is it that easy?" Raven asked.**

**"Well…there is usually an older Ugly guarding the gate. Uglies never really stop growing. You can judge Ugly age by size. The bigger they are the older they are, and the more intelligent they are. Someone will have to fight the big Ugly in order to even get to the gate and that can be a problem."**

**"Thanks Malachi." Raven smiled at the dragon. **

**"Don't thank me yet. You still have to get away from Sanath the Molester first."**

**"I know, but maybe if I wait awhile than perhaps he will tell me the location of the gate."**

**"Be careful Raven." Malachi said, and Raven could not help but notice the concern in the dragon's tone. **

* * *

Beast Boy swam like a maniac, looking for the ship that had apparently vanished into thin air. He jumped and leaped as a dolphin, but he for the life of him could not find it. Terrible thoughts of sinking ships and dead Titans filled his mind (particular concern shown for a certain purpled haired Halfblood), and he mentally cursed himself for being so slow in finding Jinx. He wanted to stay here until he found either the ship or its wreckage, but he needed to get back to the one remaining…friend he seemed to have left. It annoyed him that he had to be the one who had found Jinx and not Starfire, but…

He swam back to shore and found the pink haired loon sitting on the beach looking out towards the waves, obviously watching for him. He shifted back to human and walked toward her. She looked at him and cocked her head to the side. He shook his head.

"How does a ship disappear like that?" Jinx said "I mean it's not like this is the Bermuda Triangle or anything like that."

"I don't like it. That storm came way to quick and was over way to fast." Beast Boy said. "It feels like we've been set up."

Jinx looked at the sea and growled as if it had committed a personal offense against her. "What do we do now?" she asked.

Beast Boy was about to reply when he heard a caw. He turned and standing there on the beach behind him was a red-eyed crow. With a start he realized he recognized the crow. He had seen it before when the world had ended. It had led him to his friends when they were first scattered by Trigon. The others had thought it was a raven, but Beast Boy could tell that it was, in fact, a crow and not a raven. (A/N: Yeah, I know that the bird in The End 2 really was supposed to be a raven, but work with me here people! This is me being creative again!)

"Is that a raven?" Jinx said, interrupting Beast Boy's thoughts.

"No, that's a crow." He said.

"How can you tell?" Jinx asked.

"Crows are generally smaller than ravens, they have smaller beaks, they don't have a ridge of feathers around their necks and they make different sounds. Crows go 'Caw, Caw' and ravens kind of croak."

"Well, you do know your birds, don't you?" the crow said in perfect English.

"AKK!" Jinx jumped back "Are they supposed to talk?" she said.

"What were you expecting? 'Quoth the raven nevermore'?" the crow said with amusement.

"Huh?" Beast Boy looked at the crow, who rolled a red eye.

"Oh, come one! 'Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.' Doesn't it ring any bells? No? Never mind." The crow said with and audible sigh. "I'm here to help you find your friends. I can lead you to them, if you will let me."

"Why?" Jinx said, instantly suspicious.

"Let's just say that I have a permanent interest in the well being of Raven." The crow replied. "Are you coming?"

"Who are you?" Beast Boy asked.

"My name is Zipatila." The bird said.

* * *

Miles away to the south, Starfire and Cyborg were having a very similar conversation. Starfire had managed to save Cyborg, but like Beast Boy she could not find the ship. Neither of them knew precisely what to do, but they both knew that something had happened to their friends, and it was probably not good. Fortunately most of Cyborg was waterproof, but the tracker he could use to detect the communicators of the others was not waterproof, and it was not working at all.

"Man, this piece of junk just is not working!" Cyborg growled in anger.

"I wish I knew where our friends are." Starfire said, looking like a flower that had just wilted. She was not even floating in midair, her unbridled joy had been replaced by melancholy, so her ability to fly was not working at the moment.

"Well, I can't detect them without the tracker, so we'll have to think of something else." Cyborg refused to entertain the possibility that Robin and Raven were now in the proverbial Davy Jones Locker. He certainly was not going to mention this possibility to Starfire.

"Perhaps we should head to the city that Raven mentioned? The one of the Caninoids? Perhaps our friends have safely arrived at this city?" Starfire said.

Cyborg nodded, it was better than just sitting here staring at the sea. "Yeah, they will probably head there." _If they are alive._ He added mentally.

With some hope restored, Starfire was able to launch herself into the air, carrying Cyborg as she went. She remembered that Raven had said that the Caninoid capital was to the north of the bay, so she followed the edge of the beach in a northward direction. Soon the sun began to set, and Starfire began looking for a place to land for the night. She spotted a light down on beach that she supposed was from a campfire.

"I see a fire of camping down on the beach, Cyborg. Do you think we should investigate? Perhaps it is our friends." She said as she hovered.

"It might be." Cyborg said, though he really doubted it "Let's go down there and check!"

Starfire swooped low and gently dropped Cyborg on the beach, and then landed herself. They approached the campfire, but no one was there. Cyborg looked around with puzzlement, wondering why someone would build a fire and then abandon it.

"Lost are you?" someone said from the shadows, and Cyborg fired up his sonic cannon while Starfire warmed up her starbolts. They stood back to back, waiting for whatever was in the darkness.

"Stand down." The voice said. There was a certain purring quality to the voice, and it was defiantly female "I mean you no harm. In fact, if I am right about whom you are than we are most defiantly allies."

"If we are truly allies, then show yourself! Friends do not hide in the shadows from friends!" Starfire said, obviously in Aggressive Alien mode. Funny how she could go from innocent and happy to crazily violent in an instant.

"My apologies." The voice said. Suddenly the owner of the voice was there. It was like she had appeared out of thin air, but Cyborg thought that it must be some kind of camouflage ability. Or she could turn invisible or something like that.

She was a…well she was a cat woman. Her body had the appropriate number of arms and legs for a human, but she was covered in long black fur and she had a long tail. Her head seemed almost completely cat with golden eyes and pointed ears. Cyborg did not see any claws, but he assumed that she must have retractable ones, seeing as how she was a cat. She dressed a bit like the General had been which reassured Cyborg a bit. Maybe she was a friend of his?

"Who are you?" he asked, putting away his sonic cannon.

"I am Illeria." The two Titans stared at her, still puzzled. "Raven has never mentioned me?" the cat woman said "I am assuming you are her friends, correct? I cannot think of another alien or another metal man wandering around Azarath."

"We are Raven's friends, but she never mentioned you." Starfire said. "Please, how do you know our friend Raven?"

"I'm her sister." Illeria replied. Cyborg's mouth dropped open so far it practically scooped up sand.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" he shouted, and several small birds took flight in the nearby trees.

Illeria laughed. Cyborg noticed that she, like most people in this screwy dimension, had sharp teeth. They were not quite fangs, but they did seem to be nice and sharp. He also noticed that, for someone covered in black fur, that Illeria was actually kind of…pretty. He shoved this ideal thought away. Now was not the time for this kind of thing.

"Sorry, I suppose I should say foster sister. Raven's mother adopted me before Raven was born, so I think of Raven as my little sister." Illeria sat down by the fire and gestured to the two Titans to take a seat as well. They did so, and Illeria pulled out three food pellets from somewhere and spoke the trigger word. What looked like three burger combo meals appeared, except for the fact that these meals did not come with Cokes, and the fact that they looked homemade instead of flash frozen. Cyborg and Starfire dug in and for a while no one said a word. Finally they had finished and started talking a little bit. Like Raven herself, Illeria was quiet, but unlike her there was no sarcastic edge to her comments.

"Where is Raven?" Illeria finally asked. "Is she with you?"

"No." Cyborg said, and explained about the storm. Illeria looked very worried. Cyborg was pretty sure that it was worry, even though the face involved did not really resemble a human.

"This is not good." Illeria said. "You are right to believe that this storm was not natural, I can tell you that there was quite a bit of magic in the air at that time. Furthermore something is wrong in the Caninoid kingdom. Communication there has been shut off, and there are some very nasty rumors floating around."

"What kind of rumors?" Cyborg asked.

"Rumors of the hanging and beheading variety. And some reports of 'monsters'. A few weeks ago the General asked a group of dwarfs to investigate, but we have not heard form them. I came to find out what happened to them, and," Now Illeria smiled a bit "I was hoping to see my little sister again."

"Illeria," Cyborg said "I think we might have already met your monsters."

They talked till midnight, Illeria and the two Titans comparing notes. Finally they decided that they would travel together to met Illeria's dwarfs, and hope that they encountered Raven and Robin on the way.

The next morning found the three travelers heading north, and none of them could deny the feeling of foreboding that now hung over the air.


	20. Chapter 20

An Author's note: Now I shall be referencing to several Teen Titans episodes through more memory transfer flashbacks, mainly because it is not fair that Malachi gets all the attention, and because I feel like it. I don't own any of these episodes. I'm sure you will be able to figure out which ones they are.

None of the episodes I choose are meant to be in a specific order, they are just moments in show that involved Raven that I like. So don't look for some deep meaning in my choices!

Oh, and the movies that will be mentioned in the chapter…I don't own the right to them either. I'm going to be quoting Poe again as well. I can't help it! I love Poe!

Oops! I just realized that I didn't name the last chapter! Oh, well, it's too late now.

On with the show.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

Dragon Memories

**"So," Malachi said after a while "want to try that memory thing again?"**

**Raven gave Malachi a weird look. "Why?"**

**"First, off I think it is a good way to get to know each other. Two, I know you don't trust me, and maybe this will help. And third, I'm bored."**

**"Has anyone ever told you that you are insane?"**

**"More people than you know."**

**Raven stared at the dragon. She still did not trust Malachi, but…for some reason she really wanted to try this thing again. Besides, this might help her figure out if Malachi was connected to Malchior.**

**"Alright." Raven finally said, and extended a claw towards Malachi. The green dragon mimicked her movement and the two touched.**

**This is what Raven saw:**

**FLASH**

**_"Okay, its time for the Christmas lineup!" Helen, Malachi's mother, was saying with enthusiasm. "First we will start with How the Grinch stole Christmas. Not the live action one! The real one where Cindy-"_**

**_"Lou Who is two." Malachi grumbled. "You say that every year, Mom. Please drop it. We know you hate the darned live action thing. If you recall we never bought the thing, so I don't see why you have to keep saying it."_**

_**"Next," Helen went on, completely ignoring her daughter "We will watch Year without a Santa Claus, The Santa Claus: one and two and…what do you have Malachi?"**_

**_She held up a DVD "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer."_**

_**"Ruth?"**_

**_Beside Malachi a little girl with black hair and brown eyes held up her own DVD "Nightmare Before Christmas?" she said, even though it was mostly a question._**

_**"Does that really qualify as a Christmas movie?" Malachi said.**_

_**"It does!" Ruth shouted defensively, as only a girl of ten can.**_

_**"It's okay, we can watch it. It's a good movie and it involves Santa, so it passes."**_

_**A loud beeping was soon heard.**_

_**"Malachi, the Chez Mix!" Helen commanded.**_

**_"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." She got up to retrieve the Mix from the oven. She moved awfully fast for someone with a crippled leg. "Mom! Don't forget the wassail!" She said as she entered the kitchen._**

_**Malachi grinned "God I love Christmas."**_

**FLASH**

**_"Maybe you should stop doing that, Malachi." Ruth said._**

_**"Why? I'm not hurting anyone. Well, okay, the deer probably is not pleased. But come on, at least I give 'em a fair chance!"**_

_**"Sis, people…they think you are really weird. And if they knew about this then they might think worse than that, they may think you are a nut job!"**_

_**"Since when have I cared about what people think?"**_

_**"You hunt deer, with axes, and you use your teeth! Malachi, that is not normal!"**_

**_"Ruth," Malachi sighed "Ever since I became…well part dragon I have a really overwhelming urge to hunt things, and these deer are the closest things I can. Besides, you know what Dad was! Maybe this is natural for a Beastlord. Would you rather I go around stealing people's cows? Besides, no one knows that I do this, so why should I care?"_**

_**"It's not hunting season! What if someone find out? Can you get in trouble for that?"**_

_**"I…I don't know Ruth. But really, I'm not doing anything wrong! People hunt deer all the time in Texas! I just don't use a rifle."**_

_**"I hope you are right, sis. Sometimes I really worry about you."**_

**FLASH**

**_"Do you know why you are here?"_**

**_"Isn't there supposed to be a lawyer present?" Malachi glared at the cop. Probably not a good idea, but she was mad. It was a good thing she had her illusion stone. Malachi did not know how this guy would react if he saw that she had wings, claws, green scales and a tail. Especially since said tail was currently lashing back and forth in irritation. Good thing it was a big room._**

_**"You know people have been killed. And there are some pretty disturbing stories about you."**_

**_"So now the police arrest people on schoolyard rumors?" She really should shut up now, she knew that, but she was getting really angry. As long as she did not start smoking through her nostrils she would be fine. She did not want to have to explain smoking nostrils._**

_**"Your being questioned, you're not under arrest. Just tell us-"**_

**_"How about you find me a lawyer, like you are supposed to? I don't know all of that…thing it is you are supposed to say when you arrest someone, but I do remember the 'right to remain silent' part."_**

_**"Do you own axes?"**_

_**Malachi said nothing.**_

_**"Have you ever hurt anyone with an ax?"**_

_**Still nothing.**_

_**The cop sighed. "Fine." He grumbled and left the room.**_

_**"So much for the right to bear arms." Malachi grumbled to herself.**_

**This is what Malachi saw:**

**FLASH**

_**Raven approached Cyborg and Beast Boy, her three emotions fading behind her. She was angry, which was not helping the situation with Rage at all.**_

_**"The mirror you found is for meditation. It's a portal into my MIND! NOT A TOY!" She aimed the last portion of this statement at Beast Boy, the annoying little pest.**_

_**He chuckled nervously. "My bad." He said. Several of the mirror ravens began to shriek and flap around, and Raven decided that this might be a little more important than killing Beast Boy.**_

_**"You have to go now." Raven said urgently. **_

_**"Hold up. What's going on here?" Cyborg asked.**_

_**"Last night something…got lose." She replied. "Something bad."**_

_**Beast Boy had enough. "Oh no you don't!" he shouted while he waved his arms like a bird "I've had it with this mystery-girl routine. I want to know exactly what we're talking about here."**_

_**They heard a horrible roaring, and the mind ravens started to fly and swirl around in a vortex. From this vortex emerged a huge red furred demon with white hair and doubled yellow eyes.**_

_**"Hatred shall rule!" Rage bellowed.**_

_**"Let's just say I have issues with my father." Raven said as she and others backed away.**_

**FLASH**

**_She was looking at herself, and there were no mirrors in sight. _**

_**It was strange.**_

**_"Oh, Raven! This is awful! Terribly, horribly awful!" Starfire said as she looked over her…um, Raven's body. She was looking a bit on the panicked side._**

_**"Tell me about it." Raven grumbled as she started walking down the street. In the wrong body.**_

**_"Very well." Starfire did not realize that the question was rhetorical. She also did not realize that while she was busy panicking nearby objects where being destroyed in black energy. Raven could tell that this was going to be a long night. "Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy have been trapped inside tiny wooden bodies, while a nasty creature called the Puppet King has taken control of their real bodies, which he is using to hunt us down, and you and I are in the wrong bodies and-"_**

_**Raven had to shut her up before she killed someone. Raven grabbed her...um Starfire's shoulder and tried to make the hysterical alien understand.**_

_**"Starfire! You have to calm down. My powers are driven by emotion. The more you feel the more energy you unleash."**_

_**This did not calm Starfire down at all "But what if they find us? What if our friends are doomed? What if I am stuck looking like this forever?"**_

_**"We'll fix it. I don't know how, but we will rescue the boys and we will get our bodies back." Raven paused as she remembered the last part of Starfire's sentence "What's wrong with the way I look?"**_

_**Even Starfire could tell that this was not the time to be honest. "Nothing." She said quickly.**_

**I wonder if red is the alien equivalent of blonde?_ Raven thought as a crossing light signal exploded._**

**FLASH**

**_She was putting him in a box, never to be opened again. He did not say a word. That was probably for the best. She never wanted to hear his voice again. _**

_**There was a knock on the door. Raven looked up in surprise. After Malchior had shown his true colors, not to mention species, the others had basically left her alone, knowing that she needed time to deal with this…heartbreak.**_

_**"Raven?" Of course, it was Beast Boy. Why did he always have to pry? "It's me. Look. I'm sorry."**_

_**HE was sorry? But he had done nothing! What would he have to be sorry about? Might as well ask him. She could not hurt anymore than she already did.**_

_**"For what?" she asked from the other side of the door "You're not the one who…"**_

**_"No" he replied "I'm sorry that…he broke your heart."_**

_**"I knew it was all a lie, but he was the only person who made me feel like I wasn't…creepy. And don't even tell me I'm not."**_

**_"Okay. Fine. You're way creepy. But that doesn't mean you have to stay locked in your room. You think you're alone, Raven, but you're not."_**

**_She opened the door, and before even she realized what was happing, she was hugging him. For a while Beast Boy seemed dumbstruck then he gently pulled away from her and gave her a puzzled look. _**

**_Before either of them could continue this little moment Beast Boy was hit in the face by a flying Stankball. A certain metallic teenager then bellowed "WOOHO! STANKBALL!!!" _**

**_Raven picked up the horrible mess of what might have been clothing at one point. She seemed to consider it for a moment then she encompassed it in black energy and gave Cyborg an evil grin._**

**Malachi and Raven separated, both of them giving each other a wary look. Raven couldn't help but be concerned. If those memories were genuine…did that mean that Malachi was a killer? Was she connecting with a monster? **

**"What did you see?" Malachi asked. She had noticed the odd look Raven was giving her, and was a bit concerned as well. The dragon was very sure that the things she had just seen were very personal, and now she was regretting this idea.**

**"Malachi…tell me the truth. Have you ever murdered anyone?" Raven asked.**

**"…depends on your definition of murder."**

**Raven backed away. She could feel the dragon body she was in tensing as if ready to fly away. Or breathe fire.**

**"Raven…when I was seventeen I was actually drawn into a magic based world called Dermiania. There were…people and things who did not care one wit about modern day morals. They had no problem killing others…or doing other things with them. I watched another girl literally be torn apart. To make a long story sort: yes I did end up killing people, but if I had not then they would have killed me and my little sister. I had to defend her, do you understand?" Raven was just staring at Malachi. The dragon went on. "I admit I kind of like fighting. You know, like martial arts sparring? I like fighting, but I don't like killing. But if someone threatens my family or my friends and there is no other choice, then yes, I will kill if I have to. Could you stand by and watch one of your friend be murdered?"**

**"No, I couldn't." Raven admitted. "So…was that why the cops took you in?"**

**"Cops-Oh that." To Raven's surprise Malachi started laughing. "Believe it or not I was innocent on that. I have this tendency to hunt deer at night. One time this prying little snot with a telescope saw me walking through the forest with a bloody bag full of dead deer. Apparently he was a kid with an overactive imagination and he had just watched one of those gory horror movies and he jumped to conclusions. He kind of started the whole ax murderer rumor."**

**Raven considered this for a long moment. She was not very sure how to react. She was certainly not comfortable knowing that this dragon had killed people, but on the other hand if she was telling the truth…did that change anything? She supposed if it was self defense than yes it did change things. **

**However before they could continue the conversation the castle started to fade away once again. Raven sighed. One of them was waking up, and for some reason she was sad about this. **

* * *

To past the time, and because he was interested, Beast Boy insisted on hearing the poem that the crow had mentioned. Turned out it was called "The Raven" and it was by a guy called Edgar Allan Poe. The crow had seemed pleased by Beast Boy's request, and decided to just recite the thing while they traveled.

The bird was reciting the last stanza "And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting  
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;  
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,  
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;  
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor  
Shall be lifted - nevermore! "

"Is that it?" Beast Boy asked. The crow nodded. Beast Boy seemed to consider for a moment, then came to a conclusion. "It's cool. I didn't really understand all of it…but it was cool!"

"I'm not surprised you didn't understand it." Jinx said. "Have you ever read anything that did not come in comic book form?"

Beast Boy glared at her. Just because he wasn't a poetry nut did not mean that he was dumb! Well, okay, so maybe he wasn't exactly a scholar, but that did not mean that he was an idiot! So what if he didn't know anything about English Literature? He knew how to get to the secret bonus level of Mega Monkeys 3! Didn't that count for anything?

"Okay, O Brilliant Pink One!" Beast Boy challenged "What do you know about this Poe guy! Come on and enlighten me!"

"That would take centuries." Jinx retorted. "I don't think either of us can live through it!"

Beast Boy grumbled at Jinx for a bit until the sky started to darken. It was time to stop for the night. The two Titans found a nice spot to build a campfire and sleep for the night. Beast Boy, who knew that now was not the time for a tofu vs. meat argument, caught some fish in a nearby stream in the form of a bear. These were for Jinx; he didn't really mind her eating them, as long as he did not have to partake. He refused to eat them, even now, and instead dug up some edible roots for himself.

"So, Jinx." Beast Boy said, desperate for conversation. "You know any more of those poems? He had never really been a poetry person, but for some reason he liked these. Maybe because they kind of reminded him of Raven. He wondered if she ever read them. It was very likely she had.

For a moment he was afraid that Jinx was just going to laugh at him. She leaned back against a tree and seemed to think for a second. Then she started reciting all of the Poe poems she knew, and she knew a lot of them.

Neither one of them noticed that their guide had disappeared.

* * *

Robin did not like the way the guards were looking at him. They looked like the type who would beat up the prisoners just for fun. His fears where confirmed when one of them approached him with a lit torch. He had no idea what in the world this guy would do with that, but he really did not want to know.

The guard waved the torch around, and Robin mentally prepared himself for some pain, when a strange clawed hand grabbed the torch from the guard and yanked it out of his hand.

Robin looked behind the guard and saw…someone who he assumed was another Halfblood. Robin's rescuer looked basically human, except for the fact that he also looked about one quarter rat. He had grey hair and black eyes, a skinny hairless rat tail and claws. He did not have a rat's buck teeth; in fact his teeth were almost perfectly human. He had only one eye; the other had apparently been removed judging from the eye patch.

"Now," the rat man growled at the now terrified guard." Did anyone give you an order to torture anybody in this cell?"

"No, sir, but-"

"Get out." Snarled the rat man.

"Sir-"

"GET OUT!"

The guard scurried out. Really there was no other way to put it. The rat man gave the guard's back a dirty look, and then turned his glare on Robin.

"If I were you I would not make much commotion." He said. "If you are lucky than Sanath will forget that you even exist. I suggest you learn how to be invisible." With that the rat man left, leaving Robin a bit on the puzzled side.

"Who was that?" Robin asked Winterwing as soon as he was sure they were alone.

"I do not know his true name, but he is called Glare. He is Sanath's oldest packmate. He is a strange sort. He is loyal to Sanath, but sometimes he acts as though he is not."

"What do you mean?"

"He makes every attempt to make this…conquest as painless as possible for the conquered people. Many times I have heard him ask Sanath to be lenient and not kill every Fullblood who angers him. Glare is part of the reason that this land is not yet completely devoid of its former Deaf Ones."

"Think he could be an ally?" Robin asked.

"Truly I doubt it. He is very loyal to his packmates. He will try to convince his mad leader to show mercy, but he will follow his master's orders when it comes down to it." Winterwing huffed.

"Winterwing, what do you mean when you use the term 'Deaf One?'" This had been bothering Robin for some time and since it did look like he was going anywhere anytime soon…

"Huff," Winterwing huffed again "Can you listen to the trees, Prey-Bird? Can you listen to the sound of the wind and hear its words? Can you hear the voices of the Kin and what they are saying? Do not answer, Prey-Bird, because you can not. Only a few of the Two-Legged people can. The elves, the Nazlar and a few others can understand the Kin when they do not use what you call words. You who call yourselves 'civilized' can not hear what going on around you in the Wild. You have shut yourselves off from it, and you cannot hear. That is why I, and all others of my Kin, call you Deaf."

"I don't think I understand." Robin said.

"Of course you do not, and that is part of it." Winterwing replied.

After a long silence, Robin spoke up again "Want to go over the plan again?"

"Why not?" the wolf said.

The two of them were planning long into the night.

* * *

It was now about midnight, and Raven knew that it was probably not a good idea to be up this late. But she could not go back to sleep. She was going through a dresser, not to find clothing, but to find the present that her and her old friend Arcktos had left in here long ago.

It had been a long time ago when she was eight, but she could remember how she and Arcktos had sneaked into his parent's room. They knew that this particular dresser belonged to the queen. Since it was nearly the queen's birthday they had decided to surprise her, and what better way than with a secret treasure buried in a dresser? At least that was how Arcktos thought, and Raven had gone along with him. After all, he was basically her only friend, and he was fun. However, it had not turned out that way. That day was the day that the queen died, and it was also the day that Raven's powers broke through the block that had been placed over them. She had never allowed herself to have that kind of fun again.

However, there might be a chance that the present was still there. If it was…

Raven's hand brushed against something long and metallic. A hopeful grin flashed on her face for a brief second as she wrapped her fingers around the object. It was a long, ornately carved golden candlestick, a real work of art. Arcktos had bought it; since he was a prince he had a huge allowance. It was actually very thick and heavy looking, although Raven thought it might not be very sturdy. It might, however, do for a weapon. She hated the thought of using this present as a bludgeon.

But if that was what she had to do, then that was what she had to do. She would get away from Sanath, even if she had to pound his face in.

* * *

Cyborg, Starfire and Illeria had been walking for a while now when a little falcon seemed to appear from nowhere and landed on Illeria's shoulder. Its back and wings where a bluish grey color, and its underside was light orange. It glared at Cyborg with its golden eyes and shrieked, and Cyborg jumped back. He just was not used to strange animals perching on people's shoulders and looking at you as if you where the interloper. Okay, so Beast Boy occasionally did stuff like that, but he was Beast Boy! This was a normal bird. Well, Cyborg hoped that it was normal.

"Cyborg, Starfire, this is Zapolio, one of my mother's familiars. He's a merlin."

"You mean like that wizard guy in those King Author stories?" Cyborg asked.

"No," Illeria rolled her eyes "That is Merlin. Okay, so they are spelled the same, but they are not in any way related."

"Oh." Cyborg studied the bird, who gave him a haughty look. Cyborg had to admit that he was very pretty. Cyborg liked birds of prey, mainly because they just looked cool. It was the beaks, he was sure of that. This guy was pretty small, but had the attitude of a much bigger bird.

"He is a wonderful avian!" Starfire said in awe. She was impressed by the bird as well. She had approached the bird and had managed to stroke the thing. Zapolio did not look happy about this, but he did not try to peck or fly away.

Illeria looked at the bird intently. Zapolio turned to face her and ruffled his feathers a bit and started making a strange little trilling sound. Illeria just looked and then nodded.

"He says that we are close to the capital, but we need to keep a low profile. He thinks that something is wrong, but he cannot figure out what."

"Errrr, he said?" Cyborg looked at Illeria.

"I'm a Feloid, remember? I can talk with animals."

"Oh." Cyborg said, deciding to just let this drop. He was starting to figure out that the best way to deal with magic was to ignore the odd bits.

Soon they where in sight of the Caninoid capital city, which to Cyborg looked small, but he was used to metropolises and places with large skyscrapers. The place had an early European feel to it, the houses looked like they had been ported straight from Berlin circa 1600 or so. It was kind of cool looking, like stepping into the past.

However, the bird had been right in telling them to keep a low profile. The people here seemed…downtrodden. Most of the people looked like humanoid dogs of varying breeds. Cyborg saw German Shepard, Rottweiler, Dalmatian, Greyhounds, and just about every other type of breed of dog, all with humanoid bodies. Cyborg could not help but feel…odd. He liked dogs; he had owned a wonderful pair of labs when he was a kid. But these where not dogs, they were a race of people that looked like dogs. He had to keep that in mind. Despite this, Cyborg could tell that these people where being oppressed. Part of it was the fact that they kind of looked like his dogs had looked when they were sad or upset. Cyborg had a bad feeling about this.

This feeling grew when he notice a group of armed people looking at them. These guards were not Caninoids but seemed to be a varied group of people. They did not look happy at all. In fact they kind of reminded Cyborg of the jerks who had aimed the nasty comments at Raven at the Temple. Only these people looked like they wanted to do more than comment.

Illeria tensed and hissed under her breath. She had noticed the looks as well, and it was clear that she did not like it.

"Quick, over here." She growled in a low tone as she darted into an ally. Cyborg and Starfire obeyed, both knowing that there was something wrong here. They heard footsteps as the guards came closer, and for some reason Cyborg felt the inexplicable urge to run.

"Illeria? Is that you?" A voice came from behind them. Cyborg turned around. At first he saw no one, but then he looked down and saw a the pointed head of a Caninoid Doberman Pinscher coming out of what looked like a sewer pipe. He assumed that the head was attached to a body.

"Arcktos!" Illeria looked at the Doberman in surprise. "What are you doing down there?"

"No time." The Doberman growled "Get down here now!" He ducked back into his sewer.

"Who is-"Cyborg started, but Illeria shushed him.

"Just follow me and don't worry about it. I'll explain later." She then leaped down the hole to follow Arcktos. Starfire, who by now trusted Illeria rather well, followed without hesitation.

Cyborg had two choices: he could stay here and talk to the "authorities, who did not seem that nice, or go down a smelly hole after his one remaining friend and a cat woman who claimed to be the foster sister of…well his foster sister.

Cyborg chose the hole.

When the Halfblood conquerors turned the corner their prey had vanished. They had hoped to bring the visitors in for "questioning" but they could not find them anywhere. Eventually they decided to forget about it and go on there way.

They never even bothered to check the sewer.

* * *

An Author's note: I just had to make Arcktos a Doberman. I used to own a wonderful Doberman named Apache when I was little. He was such a nice, friendly dog! It is not true that Doberman's are vicious killers, they are not! They can be great dogs if they are trained right. Apache never hurt me even once, even when I pulled his tail (I was a little kid, I didn't know any better! Got in big trouble for that with Mom, if I remember correctly).

Never, however, dock a Doberman's tail or crop their ears! It is cruel and painful and it should not be done!


	21. Chapter 21

An Author's note: Hey, I've started a new story, mainly because I needed something to distract me from this one while I had mild writers block, and I didn't want the idea to float away from me while I write this one. It's called Reel Trouble (I know, goofy name, I never was good at naming stories). Ah, well they say it's the content that counts. Go to my nonexistent profile and check it out. See what you think. Like this one it is Raven centered (duh), but it's going to be a little bloodier than this one in later chapters. The first chapter is kind of funny (I hope), but trust me, it will not be funny for long, despite the name.

Seems to me that most of my reviewers have slowed down, must be school. Gag! School! I pity the poor fool in high school (at least in collage I can set my own hours). Although high school is necessary, it can still be a pain, and I'm not talking about the classes. I handle classes pretty well; it was the moronic students in the schools that annoyed me. Why, in Gods name, would you want to make out in a hall barely big enough to contain all the students in school between classes? You just end up cluttering the halls so no one can get anywhere (this is one of my many high school complaints. I have a list!) Trust me, collage is much better.

It is official, at twenty chapters (twenty one if you count the prologue) and counting this is the longest story I have ever written. And there is so much more left to write! Hope you are still enjoying yourself!

On with the show.

* * *

Chapter Twenty

Escape Plans

Beast Boy and Jinx sneaked through the city, keeping to the shadows as much as they could. Beast Boy had shifted to a small green cat, and Jinx seemed to have no trouble blending into the shadows. Zip was not with them, the bird had vanished once again.

At first they had not been inclined to be secretive when the crow gave them last minute directions, but they had changed their minds when Beast Boy, determined to scout the town out, spied the hanged Caninoid bodies swinging in the trees that flanked the gates of a castle like area. They were in various stages of decay, some looked pretty fresh, while others where nothing but bleached white bones. He had been flying over as a bird at the time, and it was a good thing he had. He had nearly thrown up at the sight, but birds cannot throw up (except vultures, but he was a sparrow). Who could have done this terrible thing? He did not want to find out, so he had convinced Jinx that they should sneak around, instead of walking boldly in. They headed to the place where Beast Boy had seen the bodies. Beast Boy wanted to know what was up with that. He could not shake the feeling that it might have something to do with Raven.

Beast Boy slunk along like a little furry green ghost. He wanted desperately to find Raven. He had the terrible feeling that she might be here, and he did not like that thought at all.

He and Jinx were close to the castle where the bodies were. The smell of death assaulted poor Beast Boy's nose. He hissed a bit and continued on. Quietly he and Jinx slipped through the bars of the castle. Beast Boy had to admit that, when breaking and entering, Jinx was the best companion you could ask for.

Amidst the smell of rotting corpses, Beast Boy caught a familiar odor. A very familiar odor. It smelled like…Robin. Eager to find his leader, Beast Boy mewed and started following the trail. It was kind of amusing seeing a green kitty following a trail like a bloodhound, but Jinx held back her laughter.

Tracking the scent Beast Boy found a little metal grate in the side of the castle wall. Peering in he spotted the black hair of a certain Boy Wonder. He shifted to fly and buzzed down into the cell and then changed back, badly startling the white winged wolf, who leaped up and growled savagely.

"Beast Boy!" Robin shouted in glee. "You're alive."

"What happened?" Beast Boy asked. He had never thought that Robin, of all people, could ever be captured. The boy had more tricks up his sleeve than Mumbo Jumbo, but here he was imprisoned in a cell with a weird looking wolf creature.

"Who are you?" Growled Winterwing.

"He's Beast Boy, another Titan." Robin said "Beast Boy this is Winterwing."

Beast Boy shifted to a wolf and gave Winterwing a "doggy hello" which consisted of circling each other, smelling each other's rears and growling at each other. It was a bit like pair of humans shaking hands, but more ritualistic. Winterwing decided that this strange green creature was okay. He might have been able to become a Deaf One, but this Beast Boy was certainly not deaf.

"Are you done?" Robin said after a few moments of this "We have a bit of a problem here."

"Right." Beast Boy said when he shifted back. "Tell me what happened."

"That dratted captain betrayed us. He turned Raven and me over to a crazy Halfblood named Sanath-"

"SANATH!" Beast Boy bellowed.

"Be quite you moron." Jinx's voice came from above the grate. She had found a bit of shrubbery to hide behind so she could follow the conversation." There are guards up here, you know."

"Sorry." Beast Boy's ears wilted a bit.

"You know Sanath?" Robin gave Beast Boy an odd look.

"Raven told me about him. She said he was this nut who murdered a friend of hers. He's here?"

"He's conquered these people." Robin said. "I don't know why, but at the moment that is not important. You need to find Raven, Beast Boy. I think she might be in danger."

"I got to get you out of here first." Beast Boy said as he eyed Robin's chains.

"No, first we have to find everyone else, especially Raven. If we bust out of here the guards may find out, and if they have Cyborg or Starfire than who knows what might happen. Unless they are with you?" Beast Boy shook his head. "For now, Beast Boy, just locate the rest of the team. We need to know were everyone is before we try to break out. I think Raven is being held, here, somewhere. Find her and tell her we are okay, then find Cyborg and Starfire. After that, we can plan an escape."

Beast Boy did not question his leader. He flew out the way he had come, as a fly, only to be snatched out of the air by Jinx.

"Listen, Bug Boy, I don't think it's a good idea if I snuck around with you. This place is crawling with guards. Remember that alley we passed on the way here? Bob if you do." Beast Boy bobbed his little fly body. "I'll meet you there after you make contact with the others. Just don't take all day!"

With that Jinx sneaked of to hide in an alley, while Beast Boy watched her in astonishment. How did she manage to sneak around like that with that neon pink hair of hers? It was just weird. You would think the stuff would point to her like a beacon.

Beast Boy buzzed around the castle, peeking into windows. Might as well start with the outside and work his way in. His heart leaped when he saw a certain figure in a blue cloak sitting on a bed in one of the upper tower rooms. It looked like a pretty nice room. Beast Boy could tell it was Raven. He landed on the balcony (suddenly feeling like Romeo…or Robin during the betrothal fiasco with Star) and shifted back to human.

"Raven!" he tried not to let his voice crack, and it obeyed. Mostly. She turned, startled. She obviously did not expect to see him here. While she did not display much emotion (even though she was powerless she still had that habit), Beast Boy could smell the emotions coming of her in waves.

None of the Titans knew this, even though Robin did suspect, but Beast Boy could literally smell their emotional states, much like a dog can smell fear. It was his enhanced animal senses that gave him this ability, as well as better hearing and better eyesight. He never really talked about it, partly due to embarrassment. For some reason he could not explain he just did not want to tell the others that he basically had some traits similar to animals while in his human form. He got enough funny looks as it was, he did not need to add on to them.

Funny thing about all of this was that he always had trouble smelling Raven's emotional states. Part of it was the fact that she was so good at suppressing her emotions. Beast Boy did not think she really knew how good she was. Oh, the odors where there, but they were much fainter than Robins or Starfire's…or even Cyborg's (and Cy was a bit difficult to read as well, due to the fact that he was covered in metal. Metal had an odor to, and whenever he was around his best friend his senses simply screamed METAL more than anything else). Now, however, though she was putting up her expressionless facade, her "emotion smells" were coming off in waves. There was fear, anger, a little disgust, and now that she was seeing one of her friends, hope and happiness.

Of course he would not mention any of this to Raven. She did not need to know that he "smelled her" better. That would be a no-no for him.

He opened the window and slipped into the room. He could not help but give her an almost Starfire like hug. Naturally she tensed up. He knew she did not like being hugged, but he was to glad to see her to care.

"Okay, stop that." Raven growled as she tried to push him away. It was bad enough that he had invaded her personal space, but what made it worse was the odd electrical feeling that accompanied the hug. Maybe it was static electricity?

He finally let go of her and stepped back. Now that he was not hugging her Beast Boy noticed that some…jackass had manacled her leg. Oh that made him pretty angry! Chains, cages, cuffs, basically anything that restricted freedom in any way made him mad. Once again it was the animal in him. Wild things did not like cages! The fact that it was Raven who was tied up only added to Beast Boy's anger. What did this Sanath think she was? A dog?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

"Raven! Are you okay?" _Great Beast Boy! You have just one the Most Stupid Question Of the Year Award!_ He thought immediately after said stupid question had flown out of his mouth.

"Beast Boy…you're alive." She said. She did not sound as pleased as Robin had been, but Beast Boy could tell that she really was happy to see him. The happy scent was stronger. How did she keep it all inside? If he did that he would go mad!

"Dude! Why does everyone think I'm dead! Don't you remember? I am the Beast MAN!" He could not help himself. "No puny ocean can defeat ME!" He tried for a heroic pose, but ended up looking like an idiot.

"Are the others all right?" Raven asked, completely ignoring the display.

"I found Jinx; she's hiding in the city. Robin is being held in the dungeons below. I haven't found Cyborg and Starfire yet, but Robin told me to go look for them. I think he has an escape plan, but he needs to know were everyone is."

"And Robin is okay?" Raven seemed very concerned. Beast Boy felt a stab of jealousy. Honestly, what did girls see in Mr. Wonderboy!

"He's fine…why?" Beast Boy asked, trying not to sound too jealous.

"Sanath…he's here. He told me that he would kill Robin if I don't do what he wants. I just wanted to make sure he has not gone through with his threat."

"What does he want you to do?"

Raven's nose wrinkled in disgust, as if she had just taken a good whiff of Beast Boy's infamous room. "He wants me to marry him." She said with even more dislike than she would have managed if she had been forced to eat tofu.

Beast Boy's face contorted with rage, for a moment he looked almost as savage as he did in his Beast form. His lips lifted up from his teeth and exposing the fact that he had, in fact, more than one fang. For a moment he looked like a snarling wolf. This impression was further driven home as his ears laid back, once again reminiscent of a canine. He could feel the claws hidden in his gloves sliding out as if ready to tear. This did not last long, in fact the look was only brief, but then he opened his mouth and started shouting. He could not help himself. He kind of blew up a bit, in a verbal sense. Angrily he scrolled through the list of every bad name he could think of to describe Sanath. Most of said words were highly rude, and it startled Raven for a bit. She did not know that Beast Boy had that wide a vocabulary.

"Are you done?" Raven said after ten minutes of this. "Good, now you have to do what Robin told you to do. Find the others and confirm their locations. We may not have enough time."

"But Raven-"

They were interrupted by what sounded like a footsteps on the stairs. Raven looked at the door like it was her worst enemy.

"Hide or get out of here, now." She growled at Beast Boy.

There was no way he was going to just leave her here! Not with some manic on the loose! He opted for hiding under the bed. There was enough room down here to fit even his Beast form, and more than enough for his…well scrawny frame.

Beast Boy heard the door open and the owner of the footsteps came in to the room. A strange smell assaulted his nostrils. It was a sick, poisonous smell, like rotting tomatoes in the summer heat. Unconsciously his claws started growing longer, long enough for them to break through his gloves and sink into the floor. His fangs grew as well and his muscles started bulging. He had never smelled anything like this before, but he knew what it was. It was the smell of insanity.

"Have you decided?" a voice said. It sounded…strange to Beast Boy's ears. As if the owner of said voice was not all…there. This, he decided, must be Sanath.

Sanath was continuing. "Are you going to marry me, or shall I execute the Fullblood?"

Beast Boy tried to contain a growl. Blackmail! This was nothing but blackmail! What made this lunatic think that forcing Raven to marry him would solve anything! All it would do would make her miserable! That filthy-

"Fine." That was Ravens voice.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!

"Leave Robin alone and I'll marry you." She continued.

It took all of Beast Boy's willpower not to just leap out from under the bed and do some damage. However, he was just too shocked by what Raven was saying to do much of anything.

"I'll come back for you tonight." Sanath said. Then Beast Boy heard the opening and closing of a door and the lunatic left. Beast Boy finally noticed the fact that he was…well almost shifted to the Beast, and he struggled to fight it back.

After he had gotten himself under control, he crawled out from under the bed and looked at Raven as if she was the crazy one.

"Raven! What are you thinking! You can't marry that fiend! You don't have to do it! We'll get Robin out and-"

"Beast Boy…listen to me. Remember the monsters? It was Sanath who brought them here. I think if I play this right I can find out where they are coming from and maybe a way to stop them. If I play along with Sanath I might be able to do it, but I need to know if the rest of you are safe first. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"Raven…what if he-"

"Go. Now." She growled with all the authority she could muster.

He didn't want to leave her, not with that monster Sanath lurking around. But he had to. She was right, he knew she was. But he did not like it at all. What if tonight Sanath tried to…?

Gulp.

Reluctantly Beast Boy flew out the window. He wished he could stay with Raven and protect her from this loon, but he had a mission. A job.

He had never felt so reluctant to follow Robin's orders before.

* * *

As it turned out the dwarfs that Illeria had mentioned were here underneath the city, and Arcktos had been hiding out with them for a while. Now, the prince was taking them to meet the dwarfs, who he said had some valuable information for Illeria.

Cyborg had always known that sewers where smelly, but this one had to be the smelliest he had ever smelled. Didn't these people know anything about sanitation? He did not even want to know what in the world the green stuff he was walking in was. To keep his mind off the yuck, he decided to question the Doberman-guy.

"Hey, who are you?" he asked as he went to walk beside the Doberman.

"The name's Arcktos and I can guess who you are. Cyborg?" Arcktos said.

"Yeah, and that's Starfire. But how do you know our names?"

"Most people on Azarath do, or least they have a vague idea. Most Azarathians, especially the priests, keep a close eye on Earth, just in case. Since you are the group that took in Raven my…father and I had been keeping an eye on you."

"Please, how do you observe us?" Starfire asked.

"Magical seeing mirrors, mostly. You have to remember that most of the things you use for technology we replace with magic. Not everyone can have one, but…well like I said my Dad wanted to keep an eye on Raven so Arella loaned him one." Then Arcktos muttered "Practically had to twist her arm too."

"Why would your Dad be so interested in Raven?" Cyborg asked, his big brother defensiveness coming through.

Arcktos grinned. He did this by sticking out his tongue and letting it hang a bit, just like a dog would. It was a little weird. "I used to play with Raven when we were little. And my father knew her real father, Flario. He kind of acted like an uncle towards her, and she and I were pretty close friends."

"Arcktos, what happened here?" Illeria asked. "And where is the king?"

Arcktos's face suddenly got a far away look. "We didn't expect it. Overnight the city was completely overwhelmed by these…things. Some sort of monsters. We were unprepared. Then this Halfblood came along and said if we did not surrender than he would let the monsters destroy our home. We were losing, so father thought it would be safer to surrender. He…made me go into hiding before that Halfblood managed to take the castle, and I go away. But Dad…" Arcktos growled "That beast of a Halfblood murdered him, Illeria! I think he might be trying to take over all of Azarath, he might even be planning on taking Earth as well." Arcktos snarled "Dad always treated the Halfbloods in this country with fairness! Sure there were a few citizens here that did not like Halfbloods, but that does not mean they should die because of that!"

They went on through the tunnels in reasonable science. Cyborg was mulling over some things in his mind. It seemed to him that they were running into people from Raven's past all over the place. He wondered if this meant something. Ideally looking up Cyborg saw a suspicious looking flash of pink from above another grate. He started, and looked closer. Yes! It was defiantly pink hair! He stopped and concentrated. A red eye scanned the figure, and his systems concluded that yes it was defiantly Jinx!

"Jinx!" He bellowed. The figure jumped up and made a strange noise between a yelp and a squeak. She looked down and looked at him in disbelief.

"Cyborg? What are you doing down a drain?" she asked.

"Long story. Are you okay? Do you know where Raven, Robin and Beast Boy are?"

A familiar voice came from behind Jinx. "Uh…Jinx? Why are you talking to a drain?"

"Beast Boy!" Cyborg bellowed, pleased to see his little green buddy.

"Cyborg? Dude! Why are you down a drain?"

"Look, could y'all just come down here so we can talk without me craning my neck!"

Jinx grumbled a little bit about having to go down a drain, but she did it anyway. As soon as her shoes had connected with the green muck she was swept up in a huge hug, courtesy of a certain flame-haired alien.

"I am elated to see you friend Jinx!" Starfire said as she crushed Jinx's spinal column. Then she switched to crushing poor Beast Boy's spinal column. Eventually she stopped, but Beast Boy had to wonder if she would ever create permanent damage to his vertebrae with those.

In quick order stories were traded and notes were exchanged. The group then continued on to where the dwarfs were. Eventually after a rather disgusting thirty minutes the sewer vanished and was replaced by a long dirt tunnel that twisted and turned like a snake. Eventually they came to a large cavern. In said cavern where ten dwarfs.

They were about half the height of an average human, but far more muscular and broader. All of them had long beards and grumpy expressions. They all looked alike to Beast Boy except for the fact that they had different colored beards. They gave everyone except Arcktos and Illeria a suspicious look.

"Illeria," said one of the dwarfs with a red beard "It's good to see ya. Who are these people?"

"These are the Teen Titans, friends of Raven. You remember Raven, right Cores?"

"Yeah, I remember the kid." Cores gave Cyborg a strange look, and then he offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you little-"Cyborg said, but as soon as the word "little" was out of his mouth the dwarf had decked him. Before he knew it the dwarf was standing on his chest looking down at him with a grumpy expression.

"Since you are an Earth person I won't kill you for that. Never call a dwarf small. We are not small. You are a giant!" Cores growled.

"Okay, sure. No problem. Just chill man." Cyborg said, a bit put out at how easily the dwarf had decked him.

The rest of the introductions went smoothly. No one used the l-word at all.

"So, Cores, why are you still here?" Illeria asked "I would have thought you and your team could have tunneled out of this place before now."

"Yeah, we could have, but not until we get the last bit of information we need." Cores said "So far we know that this Sanath guy is out to conquer all of Azarath. He's managed to get quite a few other Halfbloods on his side as well as some strange monsters. We even know which kingdom his is planning to strike next, the Nazlar kingdom. What we do not know is where these monsters come from and how we can stop them."

"Dude! We can tell you some things about them. A while back Raven started having these dreams…" Beast Boy told them a little about what Raven had learned about the Uglies. "So now…" Beast Boy paused "Sanath has captured Raven and Robin and he is planning on forcing Raven to marry him. She says she thinks she can get Sanath to tell her where the Uglies are coming from."

Cores growled "That's dangerous. Sanath is really unstable. I've heard him late at night talking to himself. He's a real nutcase. If Raven is not careful than he could really hurt her or worse. We need a plan and we need it now."

"We must make contact with Raven and Robin." Starfire said. "Perhaps with all of the heads together we can find a plan to escape this place."

"Getting to your leader is not a problem" Cores said. "The teams already got some tunnels leading into and out of that dungeon. We can be in and out of the place in no time flat. The problem is getting Raven out."

"Let's get to Robin first, and figure the rest out from there." Cyborg suggested.

* * *

Needless to say, Robin was a bit startled when the remainder of his team, along with ten dwarfs, one cat woman and one dog man popped up out of a well concealed hole literally in the middle of his cell. He was really glad that the guards had decided there was more interesting things to do than watch him. Really glad.

After everyone was introduced to everyone else, the real plotting started.

"I hate to say it, but Raven was right in saying that we need to know how and where Sanath is getting these creatures." Robin said "If that dragon was honest about them being able to regenerate then even if you destroyed them all there would still be more. And unfortunately the only way to do that is to get the information straight from them horse's mouth. I don't like it all, but-"

"Ummm, dude, I've been thinking about this." Beast Boy piped up. "Why don't I sneak back in her room and do my fly-on-a-wall impression? That way if Jercko decides to do anything I'll be there to stop him!"

"Good idea and that brings me to points number two and three." Robin said. "I'm thinking of a two pronged attack. We need someone to provide a distraction at the front gates, and we will also need someone to help me, Winterwing, and Raven get out of here while Team One is busting down the gates. When Raven gets the information we need and Sanath leaves, Beast Boy will give Team One the signal to start the commotion at the gates. The noise will be Team Two's signal to bust us out of here. After that we will have to meet up with Raven and Beast Boy and escape through that tunnel."

Cores whistled "That's a darned risky plan, boy. Are you sure it will work?"

"I don't know. Do you have a better suggestion?"

Cores grunted. "You think if I had a better idea I would still be here?"

"Okay, Team One should consist of Cyborg, Starfire, five of the dwarfs, and-"

"Me." Arcktos growled "Sanath wants me dead. My presence at the gate should bring him running."

"Okay, then the others except Beast Boy will be Team Two. Beast Boy, get to Raven now and wait for Sanath."

Beast Boy nodded and shifted to fly. He hurriedly buzzed out of the cell and flew towards Raven's prison. He noticed Starfire, Cyborg and the rest of Team One crawling out of yet another drain and taking up a position near the castle, ready for the signal. Beast Boy realized that this plan was pure insanity. What if Team One were killed at the gates? What if the guards walked in on Robin and the others getting out?

What if he, Beast Boy, was too weak to save Raven from Sanath? Dear God he could still remember how he had failed to protect Terra from Slade and look what had happened there?! Slade had turned Beast Boy's first real crush into an enemy! He had never been able to even touch that creep and save Terra! She had attacked him and his friends, and even tried to kill them! She had been a friend to them in the end, but then Terra had been trapped in that stone! Sure she had come back, but then she broke his heart all over again by rejecting him…the…witch with a B. What if Sanath was also to strong for him? What if he lost Raven like he had lost Terra? The thought nearly broke his heart all over again.

If fly's had teeth Beast Boy would have gritted his. This time would be different. He was stronger. He was smarter and he was-

He finally noticed that had he come to the room where Raven was held, but not only was Sanath already there, but he…he was strangling her! He had his huge hands around her pale grey throat and was squeezing the life from her!

Sanath was killing her.


	22. Chapter 22

An Author's note: Oh, my aching hands! I got some sort of red rash thing and it hurts like crazy! Darned cream the doctor prescribed isn't doing a darned thing at all! In fact I think it is making it worse.

Ouch! And they are puffy too! Gotta find a hand expert or something like that. In the meantime it's Advil for me! (I do not own the Advil company! But the meds are helpful.)

Oh, and Cheese, if you are reading this know that this chapter may contain some OOCness on Raven's part and maybe even some of my "corniness". Hope you can stomach it. Just thought I might warn you.

This is the chapter where we all get to see just how crazy Sanath really is.

On with the show...

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One

Building Some Chaos

After Beast Boy had left to find the others Raven walked over to the bed and checked underneath one of the big fluffy pillows. Sure enough, there was the candlestick, ready and waiting. She really did not have much of a plan; it mainly consisted of her asking Sanath what she needed to know and then trying to bludgeon him into either unconsciousness or death, though the death part was highly unlikely.

There was nothing she could do but wait. She hated waiting, especially when she believed her friends were in danger. She desperately wished for her powers…but maybe it was better that she did not have them. The last time she had faced Sanath with her powers she had lost control and had almost done something horrible. She did not know precisely what that something might have been, but it must have been horrible since it involved her demon form.

She was, after all, a monster. You can only expect horrible things from monsters.

Eventually, she once again heard the now familiar footsteps approaching her. She felt her stomach flip-flop. Why she was so nervous she did not know. Sanath was crazy, it was true, but he was no crazier than some of the other villains she had faced in her life. But for some reason the thought of him filled her with more fear than any one else had ever done, including her father.

He opened the door and looked at her, that strange vague look still on his face. She hated that look. He had never looked like that before the night he killed Hadiran. Before that night Sanath had always seemed intelligent and thoughtful and always aware of what he was saying and doing. He had never had this bizarre disconnected expression before. Perhaps that was what scared Raven so much. It was as if someone else had replaced the Sanath she had known with this strange emotionless doll or puppet. It was like he was possessed by his own demon, and she had no clue what to do about it.

"The wedding will be in two days, my bride." He said, and Raven tried not to cringe at that word. She needed to convince Sanath that she was willing and able to work with him in order to get him to open up.

"Two days? I thought it would be tonight." She said, trying to sound disappointed about the delay.

"One night is not enough time." He said. "I want it to be perfect for you Raven, and two days is the soonest that can happen."

She blinked. It was so strange. He had killed the man who had been like a brother to her, kidnapped and threatened her friends and was basically forcing her to do his will, but on the other hand he seemed like he honestly cared for her. She had once compared Sanath to Malchior, but she knew now that was a false impression. The dragon had only wanted to use her. But Sanath, though a madman, did seem to care for her in an insane, possessive way.

Hoping that he would not get suspicious, she sat down on the bed and secretly positioned herself so that she could easily reach a certain candlestick under the pillows. She invited him to get in with her, desperately praying that he would not think of this as an invitation to do…that. She didn't think she could handle…that.

"You are not fighting me anymore?" Sanath said as he relaxed beside her.

"What good will fighting do? All that would happen is that Robin will die. I'll help you with whatever you want, Sanath. And, besides, we are going to be married, so I might as well get used to this." Raven stared into Sanath's mad eyes "I'll help you with your revolution, ruling your kingdom, anything you wish. Fighting you will gain me nothing, but helping you will."

He seemed satisfied with this answer. Raven tried not to breathe a sigh of relief. Now, if she could just get him to talk.

"Sanath?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Tell me more of your plans. I want to help you." She said softly.

He smiled. "There is not much left that I have not told you. Like I said before, next will come the Nazlar kingdom. I plan on overwhelming their palace with my monsters and slaughtering the royal family, then making myself the ruler. That will be even easier, now that you will be my wife. You are, after all, a member of the royal family. Soon, you will be the queen. Think of the kingdom as your wedding present."

"But I'm still a priestess, how will they accept me?"

"The Nazlar have accepted Makhar rulers before, they will do it again. Or else."

"The Nazlar are fierce, Sanath. Where will the troops come from?"

"I have been summoning the monsters through a portal in the Scratch. It is near the Nazlar kingdom, and it is the only place they are being summoned from. The monster army is gathering there waiting to strike on my command. It will only be a matter of weeks before they are ready."

Raven tried not to leap for joy. She knew about the Scratch, a group of canyons that were arranged in the basic form of claw marks in the ground. It was a very distinctive landmark, and now she knew exactly where the Uglies were coming from. Now all that was left to do was to get out of here and rejoin the Titans.

Sanath was staring at her chest. At first Raven dismissed this as typical male behavior, but then Sanath reached over and grabbed a certain necklace and brought it up to his face. He looked at it with critical eyes, and Raven once again became very nervous. Gently he pushed the locket button and stared at the picture of her friends inside.

"You." He growled. His eyes had changed. Now instead of slightly vague they now seemed to glow with madness and rage. "It's all a lie isn't it?" he growled.

"No, I-" Raven tried to repair what she could already tell was the beginnings of a disaster, but Sanath cut her off by slapping her across the mouth. His blow was so forceful that she was thrown from the bed to land on the floor with a thump. He was on her in a flash like a lion.

"YOU FILTY LYING BITCH!" He roared as he grabbed her by the throat. "You think I'm some sort of fool?! I can see right through your lies, you little monster!"

"Stop-"she started, but Sanath's hands tightened around her neck, cutting of her air. He lifted her up of the ground and stared into her eyes. Any shred of sanity he might have once had was gone now, replaced by a horrible rage. Was this how he looked when he murdered Hadiran? Raven thought it was. She gagged and gasped for air, but none came. She tried to struggle out of his grasp, but it was useless. Soon her struggles ceased, and she just hung there in Sanath's hands.

It was so strange. It was so much like her dream…it was almost surreal. Or maybe the surreal ness was due to the lack of oxygen to her brain. She could feel herself dying…and while her throat initially hurt now it was like fading away.

It was almost peaceful.

Out of the corner of her eyes Raven saw a tinny green speck out the window. Said speck then shifted to a green pterodactyl. Beast Boy. With a shriek the young shape shifter dove through the glass of the window and began to claw at Sanath's back. Without a thought for himself Beast Boy lashed out at Sanath, wings beating and talons raking.

Growling, Sanath dropped Raven and grabbed for Beast Boy. His hands caught the green dinosaur by the wings, and Sanath attempted to pull Beast Boy apart. Swiftly Beast Boy shifted to a snake and slithered from Sanath's grasp. He coiled around Sanath's legs and struck. It was too bad he was not a poisonous snake. Nevertheless, Beast Boy managed to hit Sanath on the knee. The huge Halfblood stumbled back. The two combatant's eyes met.

Beast Boy the snake paused at the look on Sanath's face. It was just so…angry. Sanath stared at Beast Boy and then began to-

Giggle?

Now, Sanath had a very deep, one could say manly, voice. It was not the voice one used for a giggle. It was just too bizarre to hear giggles coming out of the mouth of a huge creature like Sanath. It almost as strange as it would have been if Slade dropped into the Tower, wearing a pink tutu, singing The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music.

It was just plain weird, and wrong.

Beast Boy shifted back to human and asked "Dude, what is your problem?"

"So…so you're the one? Her little green lover?" Sanath giggled again, Beast Boy wished he would stop doing that. "You're the little Fullblood trying to steal her away? Where was she hiding you? In the closet? In the dresser? Under the bed?"

Beast Boy started at the nut job. Had he really known that Beast Boy had hid under the bed, or was this just the result of being a maniac?

"I can hear them, you know?" Sanath whispered the strange vague look back on his face. He just stood there, swaying back and forth like he was being buffeted by a strong wind that did not exist. Beast Boy could only stare at Sanath in fascination. He had never seen anyone act like this before. "They think you should die, you filthy green mutant. They say I should kill you and put you up with those fools swinging in the wind out there…and you know what? I AGREE WITH THEM!"

At the last sentence Sanath lunged for Beast Boy, his huge hand balled into a fist. All the while Sanath was screaming "FULLBLOOD LOVERS NEVER DO ANYTHING BUT HURT! HE TAUGHT ME THAT! HE TAUGHT ME THAT!!!" Beast Boy shifted to hummingbird and zipped above Sanath, whose fist connected with wall creating a huge dent.

"Nothing but hurt!" Sanath growled. "Nothing. Nothing." Beast Boy shifted to a ram in midair. While airborne he kicked Sanath in the back and vaulted towards where Raven lay. He stood in front of her, horns up and stance firm. He was ready to defend.

"They rape them and they leave them." Sanath muttered, apparently now talking to the wall. "They kill them and leave young Halfbloods alone in the world to be abused. Oh Moooooooooootttttttheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

At this last scream, for that was what it was, Sanath turned and focused on Beast Boy, who now was so terrified of this guy, he really just wanted to run. Beast Boy did not move, however. He would defend Raven.

"Raven…you'll do the same to her, won't you? I know what you really want, Mutant." Sanath charged towards Beast Boy. "ALL YOU WANT IS WHAT THEY ALL WANT! I WON'T LET YOU!!!!"

_Dude! He thinks he is DEFENDING her! He really cares about her! What happened to this guy?_ Beast Boy did not hesitant even as he thought this. He charged at Sanath, as if he wanted to lock horns. Instead he leaped into the air, shifted to kangaroo, and gave Sanath a mighty kick. Unfortunately the madman snagged his tail and started to fling Beast Boy around like a club. Poor Beast Boy felt like he was used to hit every single wall in the room. He could feel something wet and sticky starting to run down the back of his head, and he smelled blood.

His blood.

A flash of dark blue, and suddenly Raven had leapt on Sanath's back. She had something long and golden in her hands. She used it to choke him, pressing it aggressively against his neck. Roaring in rage Sanath flung Beast Boy away and shook Raven off. Snarling he used his claws on her head, practically ripping her forehead open to the bone. It was a minor miracle that her chakra was not damaged. She fell to the ground and he stomped on her leg, breaking it. She shrieked in pain and writhed on the ground.

Soon, however, her screams stopped. She locked eyes with Sanath, even though she was nearly blinded by her own blood. But blood was not the only thing that blinded her; there were tears in her eyes as well. They were even running down her face, mingling with the blood and making it pink.

"What happened to you?" She asked Sanath weakly, the sobs she could no longer contain making her voice sound thick. "You were nice once. You used to be so kind to me."

Sanath never looked away from Raven, but his face…started changing. It twitched and contorted, as if something was fighting to get out.

"You…you taught me how to fish Sanath." Raven said "You were so kind and gentle. How could you do this?"

"Raven?" Sanath muttered, as if he was seeing her for the first time. Once again the look in his eyes changed. Rage turned into horror in an instant. The insane look faded, replaced with a sane one. "Raven? Oh dear Azar, what have I done?!"

He dropped to his knees, looking at Raven as if he was just now seeing her for the first time.

"The voices…they took over didn't they?" Sanath said "They took over…and they hurt you, Little Raven. What have I done? What…" he looked around the room "Where am I?"

Beast Boy limped over to Raven and stood protectively beside her. Sanath looked at Beast Boy as if he was also seeing the other Titan for the first time.

"Who are you?"

"You crazy jackass!" Beast Boy bellowed "You just tried to kill Raven! You've been killing everyone you meet! You killed Hadiran, and the king, and you were going to kill our friends! How dare you act like you don't know what is going on!"

"What! Hadiran is dead! How!?" Sanath looked shocked.

"Dude, you killed him. Didn't you hear me! You murdered him!"

"No, he's a friend. Why would I…the voices must have-"

"You coward! You can't blame your actions on voices!"

"I…I…" Sanath dropped his head and started pounding on it with his hands "Shut up! All of you shut up! Leaver her alone! Alone I say!" Sanath then raised his head to look at Beast Boy.

"Listen to me." He said "I can't control them. They are taking me over, and I can't stop it. Take Raven and run! Run as far and as fast as you can!"

"Sanath." Raven said her voice still weak. "It's really you this time, isn't it?"

"Little one, I know you probably can't forgive me…but I am sorry." Sanath's expression was so filled with grief that it managed to cut through Beast Boy's anger. It was true. For the moment Sanath was sane. But who knew how long it would last.

"I...forgive the man you were, not the voices that control you." Raven said, and that seemed to satisfy Sanath. He noticed the chain around Raven's leg, and he reached over and snapped the chain in two with almost no effort.

"Go." He said "Run, they are coming back."

Beast Boy gently picked Raven up and cradled her in his arms. She was so weary that she did not object once; although normally she would have probably complained and made sarcastic comments. She just might do that afterwards, but right now she was too tired. Sanath watched them with an almost envious expression. Beast Boy could tell it was time to leave.

As he headed for the door he heard the real Sanath speak one more time. "Who are you, green one?" He asked.

"Beast Boy." Beast Boy answered.

"Take care of Little Raven for me, I can't save myself, but you can save her." Sanath said with a shaky voice.

Beast Boy nodded and left, trying to hurry and be careful of Raven's injuries at the same time.

After they left, Sanath closed his eyes and tried to keep the voices away. He fought a battle in his own mind. A battle he was destined to lose, but he fought anyway to buy Beast Boy and Raven time. The voices consumed him and drowned him out, banishing him back into darkness.

Eventually he stood up, the mad look back in his eyes. The voices had won again.

Just as they always had.

* * *

Cyborg watched as Beast Boy shifted from fly to dinosaur. He growled, what was the grass stain thinking? He was supposed to be sneaking around, not crashing thru windows like a commando! 

Cyborg focused his red electronic eye. That eye was a pretty useful thing, and one of its many talents was that it could work like a small telescope. He focused the telescopic eye at the window that Beast Boy had smashed. He saw Beast Boy fighting a big, black…err…minotaur? Cyborg supposed that the guy was a minotaur or something like that. Could this be…?

"Hey, Arcktos, what does Sanath look like?" Cyborg asked.

"He's big, he has black fur, and he looks a lot like a minotaur, why?" the prince said.

"I think Beast Boy is fighting him up there." Cyborg said, now really irritated at the grass stain. Why couldn't Beast Boy hold his temper?

"If they are fighting then there is only one thing to do." Arcktos snarled. "We must follow your leader's plan and attack!"

"Huh?" Cyborg was only able to get that one word out. Arcktos had already leapt out of their hiding place and was running towards the palace gates screaming a war cry. Shaking his head, Cyborg charged after him, wondering how in the world he managed to associate with such idiots. They were followed by Starfire and the dwarfs. All of said dwarfs had war hammers and axes, but more likely they had both.

Cyborg watched as Arcktos skillfully climbed the gates. Cyborg was there a few moments later and simply crashed thru the gates with his big fist. With one blow he destroyed the gate completely. He heard the blowing of horns and the shouting of guards. Technically, because he was part-robot, he no longer really had an adrenalin system anymore. However, he still felt eager and ready for battle, and he wanted to smack everyone who dared hurt his friends.

Guards rushed towards Arcktos, who leaped on one, hit him over the head and flung him away. Then Arcktos punched started punching another one. Cyborg joined him. He picked up a guard and simply used the guy as a club for a while. Star and the dwarfs arrived a few seconds later, Star stunning guards left and right with mild starbolts, and the dwarfs literally mowed over anyone stupid enough to get in their way.

Soon the guards had been pounded into submission and unconsciousness. Cybog's ears picked up a very angry whinny. Turning, Cyborg noticed a big stable. Grinning, Cyborg charged towards the stable and burst through the doors.

He was right! It was their night horses, all of them. Cyborg felt something nudge his arm, and he looked over at Gigantus, who snorted at Cyborg as if he was glad to see him. Cyborg looked around and spotted a very irritated looking Mithrah. The night horse's fangs were bared and he looked ready and willing to bite. Hard. Very hard.

A nasty glint in his eye, Cyborg slowly walked over to Mithrah, who gave him a dirty look. Mithrah looked ready to kill something, and while Cyborg did not particularly like Mithrah, he remembered that these guys had homing instincts. Maybe they could be used to find Raven.

"Hey boy," Cyborg said, trying not to show fear. "You wanna help me find Raven?"

The big creature snorted, looking quite ready to find his mommy. Making sure his body was pointed away from the door; Cyborg eased the stall door open. A split second later Mithrah was out the stall door and charging outside with a bloodthirsty howl. Cyborg really hoped that no one would be dumb enough to get in his way. Acting quickly now Cyborg opened the rest of the stall doors, even the ones that did not contain one of their night horses.

Now, when night horses see another night horse apparently on a rampage, they will naturally want to join in. As soon as Cyborg had released the other night horses the  
Titans had been using followed Mithrah, ready to do some damage with him. The other night horses in the stables, seeing a group of night horses on a warpath, started smashing anything they saw that was dumb enough to get in their way. Fortunately, the dwarfs knew how to avoid angry night horses, so they were okay. Arcktos did not seem to have any problems avoiding them either. Starfire simply flew over the resulting chaos.

Cyborg knew that the best thing to do was to follow the night horse path of destruction. He was certain that Mithrah would seek out Raven, and lead them right to her.

He only hoped that she was okay.

* * *

"Okay, what is going on out there?" Robin asked. 

Jinx peared through the grate above his head. "Looks like they are starting the attack." She said.

"Now! But it's to soon!"

"Well, that is what they are doing." Jinx said "Something must have gone wrong. Murphy's Law I guess."

Robin gritted his teeth. "Okay, get me out of this so we can look for Raven and Beast Boy."

Jinx nodded and hexed Robin's and Winterwing's chains. Robin was more than happy to lose those chains, they were starting to hurt. Winterwing growled happily and bared his sharp teeth, ready to sink them into a certain Halfblood.

"Aright," Robin said, going into leader mode. "We have to head upwards and-"

"Hey, Boy Blunder!" Jinx bellowed at him.

Robin winched, he hated being called that! "What?" he growled.

Jinx pointed in the general direction of, well his boxers. "You going to go like that, or are you going to find some clothes or something?"

Robin turned a bit red. "Ummm, yeah, I probably should find some clothes."

"What is it with Deaf Ones and their clothing?" Winterwing flicked his ears.

Jinx hexed the lock on the cell door and let them out. Robin was thinking of rescuing the other prisoners, but there were no other prisoners…alive that is. Robin tried not to look at the contents of the other cells too long. He could not afford to be sick at this juncture. There was only one doorway out of here, so Robin headed towards it. The others followed him with very little hesitation.

Before Robin got to the door, however, it opened and admitted the rat-man Winterwing had called Glare. Robin did not wait; he drop kicked the startled Halfblood. To his credit, Glare put up a pretty decent fight, but when you are being attacked by a kid in his boxers, you tend to be…distracted by the urge to laugh. That is probably why Glare ended up in a cell.

After finishing Glare, Robin walked through the door and found more guards in what looked like an office, but only two of them. He and Jinx dispatched them quickly. Still looking out for his uniform, Robin rummaged through several trunks and finally found it, along with a certain sword. Whistler.

Robin quickly slipped on his uniform, and then reached for Whistler. The blade did not move an inch. It was as if the sword had made itself heavy on purpose. Robin could not budge it.

"What is wrong with this thing?!" he growled.

"The sword had a mind, Prey-Bird." Winterwing said. "It will only obey you if you prove yourself to it?"

"How?"

"Talk to it with your mind." Winterwing suggested.

Robin stared at Winterwing, and then decided to give it a shot. He looked at the sword and crossed his eyes, trying to think at the sword really hard.

_Come with me._ He thought at Whistler. This time it did move, but it was more like a dog trying to shake something off he didn't like.

_Ummmmm, please?_ Robin tried.

The answer, apparently, was still no.

_Why not?_

The sword gave him a general felling of dislike. So…the sword did not like Robin?

_What's wrong with me?_ Robin asked.

A strange feeling of nostalgia…and loyalty flowed thru Robin. The sword must be rejecting him because he was not Raven.

_If you let me, I'll help you find Raven._

A thoughtful pause from the sword.

_I promise._

The sword seemed to pause for a moment, then the sword became light and easy to lift. Without any further delay Robin took the sword. He would give it back to Raven when he found her.

"How are we going to find her, this place is huge." Illeria asked.

"I…" Robin paused. At first he was at a loss. He had no idea how to find Raven at all, and that worried him. He wished there was a way to track…wait! There just might be a way to track Raven! The time she went into his mind left a permanent impression. If he could tap into that residual connection maybe he could locate Raven.

He concentrated. He concentrated as hard as he could. He thought of Raven and how her mind had felt against his own. They were actually very alike, and that might have helped as well. He began to faintly sense Raven. He could tell that she was barely conscious and badly hurt, but oddly content were she was at the same time.

He knew were she was now, and he could find her without many problems. Motioning for the others to follow him, Robin led the way out of the dungeons, and in the direction he hoped Raven was in.

Outside the castle another figure lurked, watching the chaos with a stern expression. She frowned. This was going to be harder than she thought. However, that would not stop her. She had to find Raven, because…it was important.

The figure was consumed by a flash of light, replaced by a matching ball. Swiftly the light shot towards the castle, determined to complete the mission.

Failure was not an option.

* * *

An Author's note: I do not own the Sound of Music, nor Murphy's Law, nor Teen Titans 


	23. Interlude

An Author's note: Since people have been asking…(okay, it's only been Agent who has been asking but still) about what happened to our old villain Sumal, well here is a bit about what he was doing as the Titans were wandering around Azarath being chased by the Uglies and being captured by crazy guys.

Coming up, a coincidence that could only happen in a fiction!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two

Meanwhile…

Back at his interdimensional lair place, Sumal was busy practicing using Raven's powers. And he was getting good at it. Unlike Raven he did not have to deal with the powers getting out of control, mainly because they were trapped in a necklace instead of actually being inside him. Because of this he had mastered in weeks what had taken Raven years to accomplish.

The fact that he was an emotionless sociopath kind of helped as well.

His mind kept going back to those kids, especially Beast Boy and Raven. Beast Boy because the shape shifter had basically ruined his plans for the child of Yog-Sothoth, and Raven because…well she was a half-breed and she had escaped.

Sumal hated Halfbloods.

Especially after…that one.

Sumal gritted his teeth as he remembered that ugly little half-breed, what was his name again? Oh, yes, Sanath. Sumal remembered how he had found the boy while he had lived in Azarath. Sumal had found Sanath after the boy's mother had died at the hands of his slightly crazy minotaur father. Sumal had taken him in, and at first Sanath had thought that he had found a friend. He had been wrong. Sumal treated Sanath worse than a dog. Sumal had made Sanath do exactly whatever the wizard had wanted, no matter how horrible, and if the Halfblood every objected…well Sumal knew many ways in which to torturer a person, and he had been glad to demonstrate them.

Soon, Sumal had noticed Sanath had developed an odd habit of talking to himself, and it sometimes seemed that there were two or three different Sanaths taking up residence in his body. One was a reasonably normal young man, another was a vacant, emotionless creature that would come out whenever Sumal beat the boy, and that happened often.

The third, a raging monster, had come out the day Sanath left Sumal's home permanently and escaped back to Azarath. On that day something in Sanath had snapped, and not only had he escaped, he had destroyed quite a bit of Sumal's lab in the process. That fact was the only reason Sumal had grown a firm dislike of Halfbloods. He could have lived with Sanath's departure, but he did not like the fact that the Halfblood had chosen to destroy a good portion of the wizard's life work on the way out.

It had taken Sumal years to get everything back on track.

Sumal wanted to get Raven back, not because she had really done anything. Just the fact that she lived and breathed was enough excuse for Sumal to destroy her, at least in his mind it was.

Sumal finally decided that it was time. He felt that he had master's Raven's powers, and now all that he had to do was find another copy of the book. He knew where to look, after a few days of scrying he had located another copy. It was in Greek, but that was no problem.

Sumal prepared go back to Earth. Once he had his new copy he planned on paying a visit to the Teen Titans.

He still needed a sacrifice.

* * *

Miskatonic University, located in the city known as Arkham, surprisingly close to the madhouse that imprisoned some of the worst criminals in the world. That in and of itself was reason be wary of the place, but MU had a bad reputation all its own: There was the incident with a man named H. West, none of the professors even talked about him, as if his very name had become taboo. Then there was the expedition that had gone to the Antarctic, and had resulted in death of many of the members, and the survivors had come back slightly insane. There were rumors that the place had been…poisoned by something.

It was also the one place where one could find a copy of the Necronomicon.

"So you have no idea who took it, huh, professor?" Kid Flash asked the elderly gentleman in front of him. It had occurred to the young hero that if there were anymore copies of That Book around, than Mister Steal My Powers would try to get his hands on it. It had taken Kid Flash weeks to find even a hint of the stupid book, but his search finally turned up this place as a possibility. Unfortunately the book had already been stolen, and Kid Flash could guess who had taken it.

"This has never happened before; I don't think anyone even knew the book was here."

"So no one has every shown any interest in it?"

"…no, there was an incident in…1928 I believe. A man named Wilbur Whateley attempted to break in and take the book. He was killed by the guard dogs, I think. From what I've read in the police report he was a bit of a strange one. A bit on the deformed side as well."

Something told Kid Flash that this might be important. "What do you mean 'deformed'?"

"The reports kept claiming that he was some sort of monster from another planet or something insane like that. All a bunch of balderdash, of course, but the reports could make a fine horror story."

"I see," said Kid Flash. "Do you think I could take a peek at those reports?"

"No problem, young man. But I tell you that they are useless. Still…" the old librarian paused "Some of these people who believe in this are very dangerous. If there is someone mad enough to take this seriously, than you are dealing with a very disturbed individual."

"Thanks for your help, Professor Pickman." Kid Flash said as he started examining the evidence.

Kid Flash had to differ, after looking at the reports and reading the descriptions he was positive. This Wilbur Whateley was not a human at all, in fact, Kid Flash was certain that this guy was similar to, if not the same, as the creature Sumal had originally summoned.

Although this was an interesting fact, it did not really help the situation at all. Kid Flash could not find a single stupid clue, and it irritated him to no end. Finally giving up, Kid Flash decided to go back to the tower. He had no idea how to fit all that he had learned into something coherent, but maybe Robin would…when he got back.

* * *

However, the minute that Kid Flash walked through the door he was attacked by a familiar black energy. He was lifted almost to the ceiling and held there, and that was a bad thing. Without his feet on the ground he was in trouble. At first he thought that Raven was back, and this was her idea of a joke, but that hope was quickly quashed when a pool of black energy formed itself into Sumal.

Kid Flash glared at the wizard, whose expression did not change.

"Where is the girl?" Sumal asked.

Kid Flash responded the only way he knew how "Bite me." He said.

Sumal slammed Kid Flash into a wall and asked his question again. Kid Flashes answer was about the same. It went on like that for some time, Sumal torturing Kid Flash and Kid Flash not saying a word. Finally, Sumal stopped and dropped Kid Flash to the ground. Kid Flash wanted to run, but he had taken such a bad beating that he could not even stand.

"I suppose, then," Sumal said "I'll just have to wait for them…won't I?"

Kid Flash felt something sharp pierce his leg, and he looked back to see Riki nipping his leg and injecting him with poison. He felt woozy, and was soon fast asleep.

While Kid Flash slept, Sumal waited. Like the spider familiar he had taken, he waited for the other Titans to return.

Especially the Halfblood.

* * *

An Author's note: This was not really meant to be a full chapter. Rather it is a bit of an interlude to answer Agent's question on what Sumal was doing. Sharp-eyed readers will also spot some more Lovecraft references. The city of Arkham and MU are all Lovecraft's creations, as are some of the "facts" in the description (I know that the Arkham funny farm was from the Batman series, but the city and the university came from Lovecraft. It is funny, isn't it?). The name Pickman also came from Lovecraft, but it is not the same character, just a relative of the original Pickman. The date was the date that Lovecraft published The Dunwich Horror. I own none of this information, or the Teen Titans.

Next time it will be back to Azarath for us! Hope this little minichapter will tide you over until then!


	24. Chapter 24

An Authors note: To anyone who was wondering how in the world Beast Boy could pick Raven up when he is shorter than her in the show…well let's just say he hit a growth spurt, okay? He's about Robin's height now.

Once again, I will be referencing Lovecraft again. I felt that the Uglies needed to worship a Lovecraft god. I choose Shub-Niggurath, The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young, because the Uglies kind of resemble goats (but, no, they are not the Thousand Young, they just look like goats). Seemed logical to me.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

Escape

Beast Boy ran down the hallway as fast as he could go while just a human. He mentally ran through a list of animals in head, trying to think of one that could carry Raven and run at the same time. He could not really think of any at the moment, but that could be because the smell of her blood was distracting him. He had always hated the smell of blood, because it both disgusted and made him hungry at the same time (in a food kind of way). He could not change the fact that he had about twenty different carnivores inside him, and they all loved the smell of blood, which disgusted not only his human side, but the poor herbivores inside him as well. Sometimes he wondered how in the world he stayed reasonably sane with all those different instincts inside of him.

"No," she moaned, her eyes closed. "Get out. Stop it."

Now worried that Raven was losing her mind, Beast Boy looked down at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, wondering if she was delirious or something like that.

Raven opened her eyes and focused on Beast Boy. He took that as a good sign.

"Remember when I went into Robin's mind? That bond is still there. He's trying to use it. To find us."

"But, isn't that a good thing?" Beast Boy asked, trying really hard not to be jealous of Bird-Boy.

"Don't want people in my head like that…too much like…familiars." She muttered. Her eyes were starting to droop. She looked like she was going to faint again.

"Rae…" Beast Boy started, but she was unconscious again.

Beast Boy growled in frustration. This was going nowhere! He needed to find the others!

He needed something that could carry Raven safely, fight anyone in his way, and could track the others…wait a minute! The Beast! It could go on two or four legs, so it could carry Raven. It was tough and it had a good nose. He thought he could control it…he hoped.

He concentrated, and felt the green fur sprout. His muscles grew and his claws lengthened. He made sure that they did not accidentally scrape Raven as they sprouted. Soon the transformation was complete; in fact he seemed to be getting better and better at the whole Beast thing. He stared down at the young girl in his arms and suddenly he got a very strange urge. He leaned down and started licking the blood off of Raven's head. It took him five minuets to realize what he was doing and felt disgusted at himself. Maybe he didn't have as much control as he thought…but then most animals licked their, um, packmates when they were hurt. Right?

Right.

His long, dog like ears picked up the sounds of battle. Making sure that Raven was secure in one long arm he propelled himself forward, ready to fight anyone who got in his way.

In the distance he heard something, or someone, shouting.

"_Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!"_

The Beast snarled and braced himself for battle.

* * *

Robin growled and closed his eyes again, for what felt like the fifth time. He knew that Raven could tell that he was trying to contact her, but she kept trying to shake him off. He could feel her trying to shut him out, but he had no idea why. It was annoying, and it was frustrating him to no end.

"Why is trying to shut me out like this?" he growled aloud.

"How can you feel her in your mind?" Illeria asked. "Are you a physic? "

"Um, not exactly." Robin said. "One time she kind of went into my mind when I was, um, kind of having a nervous breakdown."

Illeria stopped in the middle of the hall and glared at Robin. She walked over to him and pointed a long claw in his face.

"Describe in more detail." She growled.

Robin tried to explain as best he could. He described what had happened and what she had done. He told them how now he could sometimes feel what Raven was feeling, even though it was weak and a bit on the shaky side.

"Sounds like a familiar bond." Winterwing growled.

"Huh?" Robin looked at the winged wolf in puzzlement.

"He means that when a magic user enters someone's mind like that, there is a strong chance that a familiar bond can be made between the two." Illeria said. "It does not happen that often, but if the two minds involved are very similar than a minor familiar bond will form. They are usually weak bonds, but still there."

"So…what does that mean?" Robin asked, still confused.

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Idiot, it means that you're basically Raven's familiar. Congratulations."

Robin was stunned "Is that possible, aren't familiar's supposed to be animals?"

Winterwing snorted. "Why are Deaf Ones so arrogant? You think that you are too special to bond to another? Familiar bonds between two humans are very possible, though it is rare when done in this manner."

"But, why didn't she tell me about this?" Robin asked.

Illeria shrugged. "Fear, probably. Familiars can tap into their wizard's powers and abilities, and since her powers are demonic in nature she probably wanted to keep you from tapping into them."

It made sense, but Robin still would have to talk to Raven as soon as he found her. He really hated to be left in the dark.

Robin shook off his frustration as they approached a likely looking door. It was big and gold and decorative. It probably led to the main part of the castle. He tightened his grip on Whistler, which was humming in what Robin supposed was frustration. He could somehow tell the sword didn't like him at all.

They bust through the doors and found a very…interesting sight. "Team Two" was fighting a group of guards in the middle of what looked like the main foyer or something like that. All around them their night horses were galloping about, crashing into priceless vases, kicking expensive portraits, bashing into the walls and basically causing chaos. Robin and his group spent at least ten seconds staring at the chaos with wide eyes. Suddenly, someone literally swooped down and gave Robin a bone-grinding hug.

"Oh, Robin, you are unharmed!" Starfire squealed, causing some harm of her own with her killer hugs.

"Star, I need to breath." He gasped out, and Starfire released him.

Robin looked around as the last of the guards were dispatched. "Okay." He said "Now we just have to find-"

He was interrupted by the loud howling of the Beast, who burst through a pair of doors at the top of some stairs. He had Raven in his arms, who was still out cold. Blood was running down the Beast's arms and back in little rivers, and the other's guessed that he must have been in a fight. The Beast paused and howled at them urgently, and waved the arm not holding Raven at them, as if trying to tell them to go away.

About five seconds later a herd of Uglies rushed in after the Beast, who leapt from the top of the stairs to the ground in front of the others. He snarled at them, and this time they got the message: Run!

"Let's go, forget the tunnel! Out the front door!" Robin bellowed, but it was too late. The Uglies had swarmed over the walls and the ceiling and even the doorways, and there was no way out.

_Good lord, what is this? Custer's last stand?_ Robin thought, and that was what it felt like: the last stand of the Titans.

The Uglies snarled and drool and advanced, and few of them (the bigger ones) were even speaking. They were not speaking words that Robin understood; to him it was just a bunch of gibberish or a strange and different language:

"_Iä!"_

_"Iä!"_

_"Shub-Niggurath!"_

_"Yig!"_

_"Ghatanothoa!"_

_"Rhan-Tegoth!"_

_"Nug!"_

_"Yeb!"_

Robin really did not care what they meant, however. They could be singing the Star-Spangled Banner for all he cared. All he was worried about was whether or not he could use Whistler. He felt something large stand next to him and he looked over to find that Hotrod had come over and stood next to him, as if the night horse was trying to protect him. In fact, that was exactly what he was doing. Hotrod was not the only one, all of the Titan's night horses were coming over and standing next to their riders. All except Mithrah. Instead, he looked over at Raven with a pained expression, and then walked a couple of paces in front of Robin, facing the Uglies like a gunslinger facing off with the bandit band. He reared and screamed in defiance and anger, his hoofs flailing and his wings flapping. His horns sparked like mad and his lips were drawn completely over his teeth.

He was not a happy night horse.

As if this was a signal the Uglies lunged toward them all at once. Robin found himself slashing at them with Whistler, trying desperately not to be crushed by the mob of Uglies. They were everywhere, even above them in the air. Green flashes of light exploded everywhere as Starfire blasted Uglies to oblivion, not daring to fly into the thick flock of airborne Uglies. Cyborg was using both his sonic cannon and his huge fist at the same time, not even really bothering to aim. There were so many opponents to hit that he literally could not miss even if he had been blind. The same went for Illeria. She had pulled out a bow from somewhere and was shooting Uglies out of the air with a speed that none of the Titans had ever seen before. It was obvious that when it came to archery Illeria was even better than their fellow Titan Speedy. And she was accurate as well; every sharp arrow hit an eyeball without fail. Arcktos was only using his fists, but what he hit generally stayed down. While Jinxes hexes where not really deadly on there own she was using them to make quite a bit of the architecture fall down on top of Uglies, and within moments the place was almost entirely devoid of pretty portraits and the remaining vases and such. Sparks flew from the night horse's horns as they zapped Ugly after Ugly. The dwarfs were mowing through the Uglies with reckless abandon.

As for Beast Boy, he had put Raven down on the ground and was now standing over her, viciously slashing at any Ugly that came near him or her. He never moved once, even though he was badly hurt. He refused to let them come anywhere near Raven.

And that was how Raven finally woke up; the first thing she saw was a rather hairy green body standing over her. Of course, a certain emotion of hers decided to speak up.

"_Isn't he wonderful?" _Love said.

"_Huh?"_ Was Raven's brilliant reply.

_"Look at him. He's risking everything to save you. You know I-"_

_"Okay, stop right there! Don't even say it!"_

_"You really enjoy lying to yourself, don't you?" _Love said, sounding amused.

_"Why are you even bringing this up at a time like this?"_ Raven thought back, rather peeved that her strangely lovesick (well, naturally, she was Love after all), was sitting there ooing over Beast Boy while they were about to be slaughtered by monsters. Sometimes she wondered why her emotions had to be represented by living thinking clones of her that could endlessly bug her whenever they wanted. Gave a whole new meaning to arguing with yourself.

She tried to sit up, but was brought to a halt when pain jolted up the leg that Sanath had stomped on. Drat! It felt like it was broken, maybe badly.

Suddenly the green form above her descended, and Raven wondered what in the world Beast Boy was doing. Then she noticed the huge monster on his back, clawing and biting and tearing with all it's might. Beast Boy roared and flung it away, but still he could barely stay on his feet. He was hurt, and badly. He had a least a thousand bites and scratches, some of them very deep, and he was losing a lot of blood. He couldn't keep his form, and he shifted back to human. He could not even stand anymore, but he still was leaning over Raven, trying to protect her with his body.

"Beast Boy…" She whispered, and he looked down at her.

"Hey, Rae…" He was holding her now, and for some stupid reason he was grinning like an idiot. "I never told you this, but I might not get a chance later, so I'll just say it. Raven, I l-"

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The familiar phrase made the other Titans pause, but it had not been Raven's voice. The voice was female, but deep and commanding. A ball of light streaked toward them from somewhere and hovered over the battlefield. It expanded to encompass the Titans and their allies, but pushed the Uglies away. The Titans found themselves in a bright golden shield similar to the black ones that Raven would sometimes use to protect them. They could see the Uglies lunging at the shield, but it was far too strong for them to break.

Standing in the middle of the shield was a…woman? She was defiantly female, but she had the lower body of a chestnut horse. She was wearing a white robe, so the Titans guessed she was a priestess, like Raven.

"Twainisa." Raven stared at the centaur, who gave her a brief, unreadable look. With a gesture she muttered the incitation again, and the Titans felt themselves being teleported away in a flash of gold.

* * *

Glare, who had finally managed to get out of the jail cell, really did not want to talk to Sanath at the moment. He knew perfectly well that there was something wrong with Sanath, but he did not know what to do. In truth he hated what they were doing, but he could not leave Sanath alone. Sanath had saved Glare's life once, and he did not want to just abandon him. He thought that if he tried hard enough he could find something to pull Sanath away from the brink, but so far nothing Glare had done had worked.

Glare sighed and opened the door to Sanath's room. Before the rat like Halfblood could say anything Sanath spoke.

"They are gone, aren't they?"

Glare paused. "Yes." He finally said. He looked into Sanath's eyes, and saw nothing but the insanity that had possessed his friend completely. In truth, Glare was glad that Raven was gone. Poor girl had enough problems without this.

"Find them. I want her back. And bring me the green one's head on a spike, while you are at it. And get the monsters ready. We are heading to the Nazlar kingdom now."

Glare really wanted to tell Sanath to get someone else to order about, but he didn't. He never did. He just could not seem to deny his crazy friend. Maybe he was a coward.

_I hope that girl runs as far and as fast as she can._ Glare thought.

* * *

Robin looked around at the place that the centaur lady had teleported them to. It looked like they were in the woods outside of the city. He quickly took an assement of the team. Almost none of them had come away unscathed. Even he had blood running down his arms where the Uglies had tried to rip them off at the roots. The worst off, however, was Beast Boy. It looked like he had been used for a dog toy. The female centaur was walking toward him, her hand encased in a strangely familiar bluish light. Robin remember that Raven had used that light to heal people, and his suspicions were confirmed when the centaur touched Beast Boy and he was healed almost instantly. She then went to the others, healing every one of them. Robin wondered how she did that so easily. She somehow seemed better at it than Raven had been before she lost her powers.

"Who are you?" he asked when the centaur was done.

"Her name is Twainisa." Raven said as she stood up. She walked over to the centaur and gave her an odd look. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your hide." Twainisa replied with a smirk.

"Never thought that you would leave the library." Raven said with her own smirk.

"Well, I did." Twainisa replied.

"So, you're friends?" Cyborg looked at the two of them in confusion.

"Yes." Twainisa said "She's the only Biped I could ever stand. One of the few I've meet capable of complex thought patterns."

"Er…what now?" Beast Boy stared at the centaur, who just gave him a look that suggested that he was a bug.

"Considering the fact that I became a High Priestess before you did-" Raven said, but the centaur interrupted her.

"Like I said, the only one capable of complex thought patterns."

"I see you have not changed." Raven said.

"Hmmm, I'm a centaur, remember?"

"Given the fact that you remind me every four seconds it would be very hard to forget."

"If you two are done picking at each other, can we get back to the problem at hand?" Illeria said with a little grin.

"Illeria? When did you get here?" Raven had not noticed her foster sister until just now.

"I was looking for you, not to mention trying to figure out what happened to the Caninoids."

"Great, is this a reunion? Who else is going to show up?"

"ME!" A certain prince bellowed from behind Raven. She spun around and stared at her childhood friend. For a moment she forgot that she was supposed to be emotionless person.

"Arcktos!" she said, and threw her arms around him. Behind them, Beast Boy seethed.

"Hey!" Illeria shouted. "Why does drool face get the hug? What about your sister?"

Raven stared at her for about ten seconds, and then decided that she might as well. The other Titans were beginning to get a little freaked out by this. Sure, the reaction might be normal for most people, but this was Raven we were talking about. Raven, who seemed to be almost allergic to human touch.

Raven then turned to Twainisa , and smirked again. "What about you?"

Twainisa gave Raven a look and snorted in a horsy way. "I'm a centaur, you know we do not hug."

"Great, wonderful." Cores growled "Are we done now, we still have an emergency on our hands here."

"Right, so, did you find anything out, Raven?" Robin asked.

Raven told them what she had found out. It did not take long at all.

"The Nazlar have to be warned!" Arcktos growled.

"Right, but so should the priests as well." Raven said. "You know that Arucules will want to stop this, and I doubt the General will just stand around doing nothing."

"So, what do we do?" Cyborg asked.

"Is it not obvious?" Twainisa said in a condensing tone. "Some of us should return to the temple and inform Arucules and the General, while the rest of us should head for the Nazlar kingdom. Frankly, Raven, I believe that you should be one of the ones to go to the Nazlar kingdom. They might be more willing to listen to someone of their own blood."

"I…doubt they will listen to me." Raven said softly.

"I'll go." Arcktos said, to Beast Boy's frustration.

"Me as well." Winterwing growled.

"And me." Illeria said and grinned at Raven. "I have a lot of catching up to do with you, Raven."

"Super." Raven said her old monotony coming back full force as she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I think that us Titans should go with Raven, so that just leaves you dwarfs and Twainisa to go back to the temple." Robin said, trying to take charge again.

"I don't need you to tell me what to do, boy." Twainisa said stiffly "I had every intention of going back home as soon as I was sure that Raven was safe. Goodbye" With that she teleported herself and the dwarfs away, leaving some very stunned Titans behind.

* * *

An Author's note: Okay, I just came up with that Raven and Robin familiar thing on the fly. I hope no one is offended, it is NOT a lame attempt at a Rob/Rae at all! It's just a plot twist I found fun.

And those words that the Uglies were chanting? Those were some Lovecraft god names associated with Shub-Niggurath. Fun, huh?


	25. Chapter 25

An Authors Note: Ladies and gentlemen the reviewer count for this story is…. (drum roll)…10!!!!!

Yes, ten people have taken time out of their busy lives to review this little story!!! I feel so proud! Not sure if I'm proud of myself or my story, but I am one happy little writer.

Oh, and thanks to the three new reviewers who just made themselves known. They are: pimpofthetitans, Beik, and Emote Control. Thanks for reading.

I said a few chapters back that Raven would slowly be going into OOCland, and this is going to be one of those times. Just thought I would warn you.

Now…on with the show.

I'm so glad no one was too offended by the familiar thing…speaking of which…

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four

Talking

After a bit of searching the Titans and their three new companions had found a nice little pool in the forest. It was a rather picturesque spot, the pool was at the bottom of a small, yet very pretty waterfall connected to a gentle stream. While the moody centaur had healed them of all their injuries they were still covered with blood and sweat. In fact, they were a rather smelly group at the moment, and Robin's first priority had been to rectify this situation, hence the search that had lead them to the pool. Jinx, desperate to get clean, had immediately leapt into the pool and had forbidden anyone else from going in while SHE was cleaning off. Afterwards, Winterwing, Illeria and Arcktos had all gone in together, saying that their individual species did not follow "silly human modesty" as they put it.

While the three newcomers where splashing around the pool, Robin decided to confront Raven about the whole familiar thing. He felt that he defiantly deserved to know this, as it was his mind they were talking about. He had always kind of wondered why Raven's mind had left a kind of permanent mark on his own, and now he knew, and he was not sure how he felt about it. On the one hand it could be useful, on the other hand…who knew what side affects there may be? He already figured out that this familiar thing was the reason that he could sometimes tell what Raven was feeling in certain situations, but what else could be achieved by this bond? He needed to know, and he was going to find out.

Robin approached Raven, who was sitting on a stump staring into space, and offered her Whistler, not wanting to start the conversation with accusations.

"Found your sword." He said as he grabbed the blade of the weapon and offered it to her hilt first.

"Thanks." She said as she took it. Robin sat down beside her and tried to collect his thoughts.

"Ummm, Illeria said something really strange in the castle…about that bond we have." Raven's body grew tenser and tenser as Robin talked "She said that the bond we have sounded like a familiar bond…Raven…is it true?"

Raven refused to look at him; she just kind of stared off into the distance. Finally, she nodded.

"Raven why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried to break it." Raven growled "But you can't just break this kind of bond…it's almost always permanent. I thought if I ignored it…it would go away. It hasn't…but I'm still going to ignore it."

"Why?"

"I don't want it. I didn't mean for it to happen. I was just trying to help you. I never meant to do this to you."

"Raven, you should have told me. I need to know why you kept this a secret."

Raven glared at him. "I don't want to talk about this."

"I need to know, it's my mind! Raven, I had to be told by your foster sister and a talking flying wolf that I'm basically your pet-"

"That's not what it's like!" Raven growled.

"Then what is it like! What I'm I supposed to think?"

"How about this? Stop talking about it! Forget it ever happened!"

"NO, tell me what is wrong, damn it!"

"What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong!" Raven bellowed, stood up, and gave Robin the most evil glare he had ever seen. He almost expected to see the four glowing red eyes.

"First off, a familiar can channel the powers of their wizard; do you know what that means? That means you could potentially access my powers. My curse! You would have to take on all the consequences of my powers, including my demon side! I didn't want to burden you, my friend, with my evil!

Second, there is a certain alien princess who loves you very dearly, damned if I know why! She's my friend too, Robin, and I didn't want to hurt her with this knowledge. How would you feel, Robin, if some other guy had some strange bond with Starfire?! Don't you know how badly this will hurt her?

Thirdly…my mother once had a very special little crow familiar. A familiar who is now dead because of me! That's not going to happen again!

Now, Robin, is this getting through your thick skull to that cobwebby area called your brain? I hope it is BECAUSE I NEVER WANT TO DISCUSS THIS WITH YOU EVER AGAIN!! FORGET! ABOUT! IT!"

With that she got up and stomped toward the pool, passing a group of very puzzled looking Titans. The three others had left the pool and had caught the last few sentences…not to mention everyone within five miles. Winterwing's mouth was open and he was panting heavily, a kind of doggy laugh.

Illeria's ears flicked, getting rid of some of the water that still dripped there. "What did you say to her?" she growled at Robin, looking like she wanted to smack him a good one.

"Yeah, man, you really managed to piss her off." Cyborg said, also glaring at Robin.

"I just…look guys remember when I was seeing Slade everywhere?" the others nodded. "When Raven went into my mind she…kind of…ummm."

Winterwing sighed. "Fool human." He looked at the others. "There is now a familiar bond between Raven and this Prey-Bird."

"Huh?" Cyborg stared at Winterwing, then at Robin. "Ya mean you're her pet?"

Winterwing growled "That is NOT what it is like!"

"What…does this mean?" Starfire asked, looking very puzzled.

Robin then stopped and really thought about Raven had said about him and Starfire. She had been right; this knowledge really could hurt Starfire, especially since Raven and Starfire were practically sisters. It would be a betrayal of the worst kind, and the worst part was Raven honestly never meant any harm. But before he got a chance to tell anyone to shut up a certain wolf was talking, and Robin could not stop him. Despite the fact that Robin desperately tried to get Winterwing's attention so he could tell the beast to shut up, he either ignored Robin or chose not to care. Soon everyone knew exactly what had gone on.

The Titan's reactions were interesting to see. Cyborg looked a little amused by this, as if it was some kind of bizarre joke. He could see much potential in teasing Robin about this, and he was already mentally planning the ridicule. Due to Raven's sensitivity he never thought about teasing her, but Robin was fair game.

Jinx rolled her eyes and looked bored, familiars where not a new thing for her, and to her this was not at all strange. She knew one or two humans with familiar bonds, and she thought that Robin was making a big deal out of nothing. However, she was interested to know why Raven was suddenly so defensive about having a familiar…that was the strange part. Wizards just don't ignore familiars, it just was not done.

Arcktos's expression was unreadable, probably because none of the humans really knew how to read dog facial expressions. Inwardly he was also curious as to why Raven didn't seem to like this bond. He knew that when she was little she had really wanted a familiar, due to the fact that her mother had so many. But Arcktos had not spoken to Raven since they were children, and he wondered how and why she had changed.

Winterwing just looked at Robin as if the human was the most stupid thing on the planet. The wolf made a mental note to have a very long talk with this…fool.

Illeria was simply infuriated. She had already decided that she did not like this arrogant human male, and was doubly angry at the fact that he had somehow hurt her little sister.

Beast Boy was pissed…really…really pissed. Here he was trying to get Raven to like HIM and Mister Boy Wonder had to go and form some wacko bond with her! How in the world was he supposed to compete with Robin! Robin! The handsome guy who had like twenty thousand fan girls drooling over him! Not to mention Starfire! Beast Boy didn't have one freaking fan girl within five miles of the city! Drat! What chance did he have with Raven with Robin in the way?

Starfire felt immense and complete sadness. Ever since the trip to Tokyo she had felt a strong and wonderful love for Robin, and she had thought that he had felt the same things for her. Recently they had started dating, and Starfire had loved every minute of it. But…now he seemed bonded to Raven. A part of her felt like she should be angry and jealous at Raven, but all she felt was sadness and grief. She was so upset that she turned and ran off, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes.

Feeling like a louse, Robin chased after her, hoping to somehow repair the damage. After a few moments Jinx followed with an irritated look, muttering something about soap operas.

Beast Boy slunk away, heading for the pool, and Raven. After hearing this he needed to talk to Raven, if only to find out how she felt about Robin.

* * *

Raven dove into the pool, hoping the water would cool her down. She had left her cloak on the bank, now wearing only her leotard. She was upset, and not just at Robin. She had lost her temper, and lost it badly. She had been mentally waiting for trees to break in black energy and things to start flying around. She had expected to feel the surge of evil power that came with her demon side waking up…but it had not happened. She had lost her temper and gotten angry, but nothing bad had happened at all. It was very strange and a little scary.

She ducked under the water, scrubbing her head with her fingers as she tried to get the blood out of it. When she resurfaced she saw a certain green boy sitting on the bank looking at her.

She glared at him "What are you doing here?"

"I…just wanted to check on you. Are you okay?" He did not what to say what he was really feeling, which was immense jealousy toward Robin. He didn't want to ruin what little chance he had left with an angry boyfriend rant. Especially since he was not technically Raven's boyfriend, no matter how much he wanted to be.

"I'm fine." Raven growled and turned away from him.

Beast Boy decided to take a chance. After all, she couldn't really throw him five miles away with her powers right now, so…

He slid into the pool and walked toward Raven. The water was only waist deep, and not that cold. He got within arms length of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Immediately she tensed up, not used to people touching her. Now that he was standing next to her he could tell how upset she really was, and his jealously faded away, replaced by concern.

"You heard most of that…didn't you? You heard about what happened between me and Robin?"

"You were shouting at him, everyone heard. Are you okay?"

"Do any of you know what this means?"

"Winterwing tried to explain it to us, something about two minds touching each other. I really…don't understand it. Are you and Robin-"

"NO!!" Raven bellowed and whirled around to face him with an angry expression. "He's not a boyfriend or a lover or a freaking PET!!!! I never meant it to happen! You were there, Beast Boy! All I was trying to do was keep him from dieing! That's all! But the magic…sometimes when two people that have similar minds and one of them connects the other like that then the stupid bond will just form without either person wanting it."

"So, it was an accident?" He had heard most the conversation, but he really needed to hear her say this.

"FOR THE LAST TIME YES!" Raven shrieked at him. Beast Boy leaped back, almost expecting to get his head blown off. When it didn't happen he relaxed.

"Look, Rae," he said. "I…just…oh heck." Beast Boy could not think of what to say.

They stared at each other for a long moment, neither of them knowing precisely what to say. Finally, Beast Boy could not take the silence anymore.

"Sorry for making you mad. I just wanted to make sure that you are okay.

"I shouldn't have lost my temper like that." Raven said very quietly.

"Hey, it's no problem. You should let your emotions out more often. It might make you feel better."

Raven snorted. "If I did that then everything in the tower would be blown sky high and you know it."

"But they didn't just now, when you shouted at me, and they didn't when you let loose on Robin. I know it is because you don't have your powers anymore, but…maybe now is the perfect time for you to let some of your feelings out. It might do some good. You never know."

"I don't know Beast Boy."

Beast Boy grinned at her. "Hey, just think about it!" Not wanting to get her angry again, and finally realizing that him and her in a wet pool might be the best thing for Mr. Beast Boy's Hormone, Beast Boy turned away and swam to shore. Upon reaching the shore he turned into a dog and shook himself dry. Then he shifted back to human, gave Raven a wave and left.

She sighed and thought about what Beast Boy had said.

Maybe he was right.

Maybe…for a while, she could allow herself to feel.

* * *

Robin had finally caught up with Starfire, who was now crying uncontrollably. Every time she sobbed he felt small emotional knives going into his heart, and he felt even more like a total jerk, even though he technically had done nothing wrong.

"Starfire please!" he begged. "I didn't know what she had done. You know I didn't ask for her to do it. It was an accident and…please stop crying." He could not understand her. She was speaking in her native tongue, and Robin had no clue what she meant.

"Oh, would you just stop with the soap opera teenage angst crap!" Jinx growled as she walked up, much to Robin's dislike and irritation. What did she want?

"Starfire, look." Jinx started, ignoring Robin's glare. "I can tell you don't really understand what a familiar really is, so I'm going to help you a bit. Now, first off, just because Robin and Raven have a bit of a mental connection does not mean that they are romantically involved or anything like that. I've met wizards with human familiars before, and it is not that problematic. All it really means is that Robin can do a few things he could not before hand."

"Like what?" Starfire asked, still sniffling.

"Well, like she mentioned he could probably channel her powers." Jinx started listing things off "They could see through each other's eyes if they concentrated. Hear each other in their heads…oh and she could probably use him as a conduct."

"A what?" Robin looked at Jinx.

"Means she could use your mind to support hers with difficult spells." Jinx said. "The point is, Starfire, just because Raven accidentally linked with Robin's mind does not mean that they will run off together. Familiar humans marry all the time without any problems."

Now embarrassed that Jinx had said the M word, but now willing to deny the possibility in case Starfire went on another crying fit, Robin choose to ignore Jinx completely and grabbed Starfire's hand.

"Star, just because my mind is linked to Raven's it does not change what I feel for you. Nothing will ever change what I feel for you."

Starfire's eyes lit up, thankfully not literally, and she threw herself on Robin. Not wanting to see…whatever they were going to do, Jinx turned around and left, hoping that this would help end some of the annoying drama.

* * *

Twainisa was just finishing up her report to the Matron, who was not happy at all. Also there was the General, Arucules and Dralor. Frankly, Twainisa wished that Dralor was not there, he could be so unreasonable when it came to some things! Especially when it came to Raven.

Dralor was scowling darkly "I told you we should have keep it locked up." He was referring to Raven.

The General and Arucules were both snarling at this comment, but neither said anything. Technically Dralor outranked both of them, and there was nothing they could do about that, nor was there anything they could do about his unreasonable hatred for Raven.

_He's not completely out of line_. The General thought _Trigon did murder his brother, not to mention the fact that he used the body of his best friend to rape his other friend. At least his hate does not stem from prejudice, like so many others's hatred is._

"The issue is not HER." Arucules stated, emphasizing the word her. "The issue is Sanath and Sanath alone. I do not care what you decide, Matron, but I will do my best to stop him. I'll go to the Nazlar kingdom right now if need be."

The Matron gave him a steady look. She knew that the old minotaur saw many of his fellow priests as weak, but despite his attitude he did have a point. In fact…

"Twainisa, are you certain that Sanath will try to strike us here eventually?"

"More than certain, Matron." The centaur replied.

"Then I believe preemptively striking this army while they are fighting the Nazlar will fit under the Warrior's job description. The one that goes 'protect the Temple at all costs'. Am I correct?"

The General managed not to grin broadly "That is how I interpret it, Matron. Shall I gather the troops?"

"Of course." She said. Somehow the General managed to get out of there swiftly, but never actually ran.

"What will we do with the Halfbloods if this battle is won?" Dralor said. "You know how I feel about genocide, Matron."

"I hope it does not come to that…I truly do not." The Matron said. Most of the time she and Dralor agreed on most issues and it was only concerning Raven that the two found themselves at odds. Dralor was actually a very good man, but he could not forget the pain that Trigon had caused him, and for some reason the very sight of Raven caused those bad memories to surface. However, the Matron did know that Dralor had tried most of his life to be fair to Raven, even when he was overly stern and critical to everything she did, but…

The one time that Raven had transformed into a true demon had been the last straw for Dralor. In that moment he saw not a little girl, but a monster born from his mortal enemy. Dralor had never liked Raven, but after that his dislike had grown to full blown hate. He had never gotten over that, and even after all she had done Dralor still saw Raven as a monster that needed to be restrained…or killed.

"Will you support me in this?" she asked Dralor. "I know the Council will not approve of this and I may need your help. I know how much you despise Raven, but-"

"I will not let my personal feeling for that monster get in the way of what must be done." Dralor said.

The Matron wished she could believe him.

* * *

After the others had each gotten a dip in the pool they all sat down for a pellet induced meal of steak and potatoes, most of the potatoes being claimed but Beast Boy, who received even more teasing about his vegan ways. Usually it was just Cyborg, but now Arcktos and Illeria were taking turns needling him. Both were dedicated predators, and did not understand or want to understand Beast Boy's views.

It was very loud.

What was almost as bad for Raven was Starfire. The alien princess was determined to get to the bottom of this bond, and she was firing questions at Raven, who was not enjoying the experience.

Finally, Raven snapped again "I don't like familiars! How many times must I say it, Starfire?"

Arcktos's nose flared. He leaned over and gave Raven an odd look.

"When you were a little girl all you could talk about was having a familiar of your own." He said gently. "Now you twitch every time that someone mentions the word. What changed, Raven?"

_What is with these people! I feel like I should just write my stupid memoirs and get it over with!_ She thought. She looked at the others, who were giving her the now expected "please tell us!" look. She sighed.

"Illeria, Arcktos and Winterwing…you all remember Zipatila?"

"Mother's familiar, he went with you to Earth." Illeria said.

"Yes…" Raven looked over at Titans "Zipatila was a crow, and like Illeria said he was one of my mother's familiars. He…went with me to Earth, but during my first attempt to stop a robbery…they used guns. I did pretty well, but one of the robber's bullets almost got me. It would have, but Zipatila flew in front of it in order to save me." Raven was now looking down at the ground, looking very sad. "He saved my life. I tried to heal him, but I could not."

_A crow! Oh my God! I've meet him!_ Beast Boy thought. _HE was the one who led me and Jinx to Raven! Does that mean…DUDE, I saw a ghost!"_

* * *

A/N: I kind of stole the whole "pet" thing from Agent's comments! Hope you do not mind, but that statement just cracked my up! 


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Five

Griffins and Dragons

* * *

That night Raven really could not sleep that well. Part of it was the fact that she was still mulling over what Beast Boy had said about her emotions. She had never considered what might happen if she used this time to try experiencing emotions more, mainly because she was afraid of what might happen. What if when she got her powers back she was so out of practice that she blew things up? Not a good thought.

Another problem, of course, was her memories of a certain crow. When she was growing up Zipatila had been with her constantly, possibility because most of the time her mother could not. It was almost like the bird had considered her his hatchling or something like that, the way he had hovered around her. Until the day he died Zipatila was always with her…but not anymore.

It really was all her fault, she knew that. She was the one who led him into that fight. She didn't even try to tell him to stay back or anything, she just assumed that everything would turn out fine, and it had not. In the end Zipatila had been shot, and if it had not been for her he would be alive right now.

"So, are you going to mope about me all your life, or are you going to finally get over it?"

Raven shot up at the voice. It couldn't be! She looked around and there, perched on a low branch, was the dead crow. It was no surprise to Raven that he could talk, Zipatila had always been capable of speech. It had something to do with the magic around the Temple, it tended to make animals a bit smarter than they were originally. Since crows where very smart birds it had not taken much to jump to speech. He didn't look like a traditional ghost, he was not see through, nor did he have a bloody hole in his chest where the bullet had struck him. He was not rotted or decayed; he looked just as he had when he had been alive. Raven instinctively reached to stroke the black bird, but her hand passed through him. He really was a ghost.

"Zip?" she asked, still staring at him.

"Who else, h'Radoni? Now, are you going to answer me or not?"

"Please don't call me that."

"Why not? It is your name."

"In Nazlar, not English. Besides, almost everyone who ever called me that is gone. You and Hadiran-"

"And Illeria calls you it sometimes, as does Arcktos on occasion. Not to mention the wolf."

"And you all know how much it irritates me!" Raven growled.

"Why else would we do it?" the crow cocked his head at Raven and seemed to smile. "You shouldn't keep shoving your heritage away from you, not now not ever. You do it far too often."

"There is a reason for that, you know. You of all people should know."

"You shove away your heritage, your friends, your destiny-"

"I never wanted to be Trigon's-"

"I wasn't talking about Trigon! I was talking about the dragon! You know what these dreams truly mean!"

"I'm NOT a Dragonborn." Raven said flatly.

"How do you know that? You are shoving the truth away again…" the bird paused and hopped closer "Just like you are shoving me away."

"What! I never shoved you away!" Raven stared at the crow in astonishment.

"No, not when I was alive. But when I died? Raven, you have a familiar now, and the only thing you have done about it was try to stop it. You know that is wrong. Don't you realize that every time you do that it hurts me? How it hurts my memory? Besides the fact that the boy needs to know what he is capable of now."

"But what if I hurt him? What if he can't handle it? What if…he turns into something like me?"

"I think becoming more like you would be the best thing that could happen to anyone." Zipatila said with a wing flap.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"True, but I stand by what I said. At least try it, h'Radoni."

"Stop calling me that."

"No."

"Flying rat."

"Monkey."

"Death didn't change you that much, did it?" Raven said.

"Nope."

"Why in the world didn't you show up sooner, if you can do this?"

"You know that the technological interference on Earth can prevent certain magics from happening. In truth I was always there for you, but the interference prevented me from talking to you and you could not see me. I did show up once, when the world ended, but I was too busy trying to get your group together to try and find you…not to mention the fact that Trigon's birds decided I was something to chase around."

"They've all seen you?"

"Yes, but all save the green one thought I was a raven. Silly humans. Probably thought I was YOUR soul!"

"I…I missed you so much, Zip. I'm so sorry I got you killed."

"Silly girl, I would do it again if I had to. That bullet would have struck you in the heart and I could never allow that. It was not your fault and it never was. It was my decision to do it, and I do not regret it. I would, however, appreciate it if you would stop moping around about me. You were not made to be depressed, h'Radoni."

"I'm not sure about this."

"Just try it. For me. Please?" the bird tried to touch his beak against her arm, but it just passed through her.

Raven looked at the little animal that she still loved. He had meant a great deal to her, and she had been heartbroken when he died. It did not help that his death had come right on the heels of Hadiran's death. It had almost been too much for her to handle, losing two people very important to her literally in the space of a few months. She had thought she had managed to get over it, but clearly she had not.

"I'll try."

"Thank you. I have to leave for now, but I'll still be watching you."

"Bye." She said quietly as the bird faded away, as ghosts often will. She was very close to crying, but for once in her life she did not try to stop the tears. Exhausted and finally ready to get some sleep, Raven drifted off.

**

* * *

"You know," Malachi said as the two appeared to each other once more "we really should try to figure out why this is happening."**

**"Maybe we are slowly going insane." Raven said with a sigh.**

**"Naw, I was already nuts to begin with!" the green dragon chuckled.**

**"That's something to brag about." Raven said sarcastically. **

**"So, did you escape from the nutcase?" Malachi asked.**

**"Yeah…but I'm not sure about Sanath anymore…I think I was wrong about him."**

**"OH NO! You aen't going all 'battered wife' on me, are ya?"**

**Raven raised an eyebrow "Aen't?" she asked.**

**The other dragon shrugged. "What can I say? Sometimes my hick leaks a bit."**

**"I see this." Raven muttered. By now the mist of this weird dream world had faded, and she could now see Malachi pretty well now. The dragon was about as large as Malchior had been; perhaps even an inch or two shorter. She was a dark green color that was almost leaning to black. Her head was slightly horse shaped and rounded, with two little ears on her head. No horns. She looked a lot stronger that Malchior, physically. While the evil dragon had small limbs, Malachi's where large and almost muscular, even the crippled leg. **

**"What happened?" Malachi asked, after a few minutes of nothing being said between the two of them.**

**Raven paused. It was so strange, but for some reason she was starting to trust this dragon, and Raven had never been known for being the most trusting of people. She had never really trusted Terra…but then again she had been right about her all along. However, she had certainly been wrong about Malchior. She was not sure what to do. She felt very much inclined to talk to Malachi, but she was unsure if her growing trust for the dragon was real or some kind of trick.**

**Malachi noticed her hesitation and sighed. "Still having trouble trusting me I see." She said.**

**"I…look, the last time I trusted a dragon it didn't go well."**

**"Look, I'm not really a dragon you know. I mean, I was born a human…okay half human, but defiantly bipedal. And besides that, I'm not the dragon you are talking about, right?"**

**"I suppose not." Raven replied, not wanting to mention the fact that Malachi could be a certain other dragon.**

**"Look, I want to help you, but I can't do that if you keep shutting me out like this."**

**"Why? Why in the world are you trying to help me? You barely know me! You don't even know if I'm real or not!"**

**"Look, ever since that memory sharing thing I've started to feel a connection with you. Heck, maybe even before that. Can't you feel it?"**

**"I…maybe. I don't know." **

**"I'm not going to hurt you, you know." Malachi said.**

**Raven sighed. Unfortunately she did feel some short of connection with this dragon, and it irked her to no end. She didn't like people getting close to her, especially when she was not sure of their motives. She wanted to trust the dragon, but paranoia was a pretty strong aspect of her personality. On the other hand…**

**For some odd reason she soon found herself explaining what had happened between herself and Sanath. Malachi did not interrupt once, only snorting on occasion.**

**"I'm going to change my evaluation here," Malachi said "The guy needs a nice trip to the funny farm."**

**"Malachi, this isn't a joke."**

**"What makes you think I'm joking, I was serious." Malachi said "Look, when you start hearing voices it's time to get some help. I think you should find a way to catch this guy and get him some decent meds or something. It might help. He doesn't sound bad to me, just crazy. You can help crazy, but you can't help bad."**

**Raven blinked. Once again Malachi was right. Sanath was not an evil madman like most villains, he was a madman who was actually a nice person underneath the evil and cruelty. That somehow made it worse. It was easy blaming Sanath and calling him a monster, but it was much harder to bear when you knew that there was a decent person trapped inside. **

**Once again, however, the place was fading, and Raven was waking up.**

* * *

There are many things you don't want to see when you just wake up: flames, a guy with a gun and a mysterious ugly person lying beside you that you are sure you have never seen before are a few examples. However, one of the worst things to wake up to is a pair of big yellow eyes that clearly belong to the species _Canis lupus_. Or since the wolf in question had wings, perhaps it would be _Canis lupus_ _aves_. Robin, when he woke up see these eyes staring at him, nearly jumped out of skin.

"You and I," Winterwing growled. "Have to talk. Now."

"Do you people have a problem with peaceful sleep?" Robin asked. Winterwing ignored him.

"You obviously have no idea how a familiar is supposed to act, Prey-Bird, so I have come to teach you."

"Wha-"

"First off, you don't do anything to hurt your wizard, whether by word or action."

"But-"

"Second, when your wizard tells you to drop the subject, DROP the subject."

"Look-"

"And third, I EVER hear the word PET associated with a familiar again, I am going to rip a throat out! Most likely yours. I'm a familiar as well, you dolt, and I have NEVER been a PET."

The wolf turned around and started marching away. Then he paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Fourth, don't ever let her get hurt. If you ever lose her…you'll regret it. Bonds like this can't be broken; even by death…all they do is leave an ach you can't cure."

With that the wolf vanished, leaving Robin confused and agitated.

* * *

The next morning was…interesting.

For one thing, Robin was doing his best to avoid several people: the main one being Winterwing. He also did his best to avoid Illeria, who kept giving him these very nasty looks. Who knew that cats could sneer so well?

Also, Raven was acting a bit different as well. She had very little experience with emotions, and didn't know how to express them that well. She settled on trying to be a bit nicer and less snappy, which was earning her a few strange looks. Still, it was the best she could do. She was trying to listen to her emotions and doing what they suggested (despite the fact that she had lost her powers, her emotions had not changed).

She knew, however, that jumping on top of Beast Boy, as Love and Happy were suggesting, was not a good idea. The fact that two of her most annoying emotions had become fixated on Beast Boy was starting to drive her nuts. She could guess why Love was acting the way she was acting…but she did not like the thought of developing a crush on Beast Boy. Sure, he had been acting very nice to her lately, but that did not mean…did it? No way.

Trying to ignore her annoying emotions, she looked at Robin, who was trying desperately to avoid her gaze. He had been doing that all morning. Frankly, he was the last person she wanted to talk to, but he HAD told her to tell him about any more Malachi dreams.

"Robin, it happened again last night. The dreams I mean."

Instantly, everyone was paying attention to her, especially the three newcomers, who didn't know about the dreams. After a brief explanation of what had been happening, Raven told them what had happened in the last two dreams. Instantly, Robin looked worried. This dragon…was some sort of killer? He didn't like the sound of that at all. Sure, Malachi had said that it was self-defense, but Robin didn't believe in killing your enemies, and he really did not trust anyone who did.

Illeria, however, was focused on something else. "Raven…I know you must know what this means. If these dreams are real, than you must be Dragonborn."

"No." Raven growled. "There must be another explanation."

"Oh no, here comes the low self esteem again." Winterwing rolled his eyes, a gesture he picked up from humans.

"I do not have low self esteem." Raven said.

Winterwing snorted "Bullshit." He growled. "This happens all the time. You never listen to anyone when they say something good about you! Why, pray tell, can't you be Dragonborn?"

"One word: Trigon." Raven snapped.

Winterwing snarled and glared at her. "Stop using him as an excuse to put yourself down! You spend too much time dwelling over him as if he runs your life. You defeated him, shouldn't that tell you something?"

"He was my father, and-"

"HE was NEVER your father!" Illeria snarled in anger. "Flario was and you know it!"

Raven opened her mouth to continue the tirade, but Arcktos placed a hand on her shoulder and quickly spoke up before anyone else could shout.

"You know, there is a solution to this that does not involve us tearing each other apart." He said gently. "Our path leads us to the Great Rift, and we know who dwells there."

"Um, except us poor little Earth people." Beast Boy interjected.

Arcktos grinned. "I'm talking about, ironically enough, another dragon, Lightflight, who lives near the Great Rift. It is a giant hole in the ground of Azarath so deep that stretches to the Void. It is a dangerous place, but if we want to get to the Nazlar kingdom quickly we need to cross it, and Lightflight is the only being who can help us. I don't see why we could not ask him about the Dragonborn."

Robin frowned. More dragons! "What is this Lightflight like and why would he want to help us?"

"He's what we call a Second Generation Dragon." Illeria said. "Basically, he is the hatchling of one of the First Dragons, but very young by their standards. He's the son of Azar."

"And when Illeria says 'young' she means that he is only a few hundred thousand centuries old." Raven said.

"A few. Hundred. Thousand. CENTURIES!!!" Cyborg bellowed. "How old did the First Dragons get?!"

"About five or six aeons." Illeria said with a small smile.

"AEONS!!!" Cyborg bellowed again.

"Ummm, how long is an aeon?" Beast Boy asked.

"Approximately one billion years, though the current one has been going on for at least five million years." Starfire said. "Or at least that is how my people measure it."

Beast Boy held his head and moaned, unable to deal with such big numbers.

"Anyway, as Azar's son Lightflight must know something about the Dragonborn, and he might tell us. It's not out of our way, and we need his help to cross the Rift at any rate."

It was agreed, and not long after the Titans and their companions were off and heading toward the Rift.

* * *

Beast Boy was giving Arcktos a vicious glare. First Robin, and now this!

"This" was the recent behavior between Arcktos and Raven. The big dog-man had been riding beside Raven since they had left, and the two of them had been awfully…chummy. Way to chummy, in Beast Boy's opinion. The two had been talking for hours…TALKING!! Raven didn't talk!! Raven didn't socialize! But she was doing it with this mutt, and it was driving Beast Boy nuts! Okay, so Arcktos was doing a lot more talking than Raven, but still…

He licked her!! The mutt licked her! Leaned right over and gave her a lick on the ear! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Okay, she smacked him a little, but it was not as hard a smack as Beast Boy thought Arcktos should get!

Mutt.

"Hehe, you going to challenge him to a dual soon?" Said Illeria, who had noticed this. She could tell that this green fellow liked her sister, and she could not say that she objected. He seemed nice, even if he was rather stupid, in her opinion.

"Huh?" Said Beast Boy; who was daydreaming about turning into a tiger and teaching Muttface a lesson.

"Oh please, I can tell you like her."

"Ummmmm." Beast Boy said, not too sure about Illeria's intentions.

"Look….what was your name again?" she asked.

"Beast Boy."

"…okay, Beast Boy, let me tell you something. Those two were best friends when they were younger. Spent almost all their time in each other's company. When Raven was ten and Arcktos was eleven there was accident, and Arcktos's mother was killed. After that his thought it was best if Arcktos came home and learned how to rule the country, instead of receiving his education from the Temple teachers. The two have not seen each other since, though I believe that they wrote to each other frequently. So you see, they have not seen each other for years, so of course they would want to catch up."

"He LICKED her!" Beast Boy growled.

"He's a DOG." Illeria said.

Beast Boy grumbled, but he had to admit that Illeria had a point. But before he could speak again he heard Winterwing calling from up front, where the big winged wolf had been leading the way.

"I can see Griffin Cliffs. Are we going around or through it?"

Beast Boy rode up to look at whatever this cliff Winterwing was talking about was. As soon as he exited the tree line he saw it. It was in the middle of a wide plain, just looming there like a castle. It looked more like a mesa than a cliff, with a clear opening going through it.

"It would be faster if we went through it." Raven said "But we will have to be quiet about it. Griffins are very territorial, and I don't want to have an issue with them."

"What is a griffin?" Starfire asked.

"Head and wings of an eagle, body of a lion." Raven said. "And very temperamental and aggressive. Not bad people, just touchy. They let people go through their cliffs as long as they stick to the path and don't bother them."

"So as long as we don't bother them it should be alright?" Robin asked and Raven nodded. "Then I guess we are going through. We are strapped for time here."

They entered the opening, and Beast Boy soon wished they had not. He did not like the looks of this. It smelled like a trap, and it made him nervous.

It did not help his nerves when a large golden creature jumped in there path with an aggressive screech. It could only have been a griffin, judging from the fact that it…well had the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a huge lion. It prowled towards them, head down and hissing. It was staring right at Raven, and it did not look happy.

"You…monster." It snarled. "Hatchling killer!"

"What?" Raven looked at the creature in confusion.

"Halfbloods came…killed hatchlings. You are Halfblood, so you are one of them."

"Hey dude, chill, she isn't one of them!" Beast Boy rode in front of Raven and tried to get the angry griffin's attention. "It was a different group of Halfbloods, and she is not one of them."

"LIARS. Why should I believe you! All hatchling killers must be punished. Since you are with her, then you are foes as well!" The griffin let out a howl, and soon the sky was filled with his fellows, who were waiting in ambush. They surrounded the group and without warning attacked.

Robin knew there were too many of them to fight "Run!" he bellowed, and the group set off at a gallop. The griffins dove and scratched and pecked, without any remorse or pity. It was clear that they were determined to tear the team apart. The combined powers and fighting skills of the team where just barely keeping them off.

_If this is the Azarathian vision of "peaceful" then I'd hate to see what they call war!_ Cyborg thought as he blasted a group of griffins.

They were halfway through the cliffs when Arcktos was dragged out of his saddle by a screaming griffin. Forgetting his early dislike of the prince, Beast Boy flew out of his saddle as a hawk, streaked over, shifted to gorilla and started punching griffins out of the way. He could hear the others shouting and trying to get to them.

A shadow passed over the battlefield, a huge shadow that the mad griffins could not ignore. They looked up as the shadow grew even larger and a gust of flame singed fur and feather. None were killed, but they did receive some burns.

A gigantic white dragon plunged out of the sky with an angry roar. It flared its wings, causing a powerful gust of wind to sweep over the griffins, which were blown a few feet away.

Taking this opportunity, Raven rode over to Beast Boy and dragged him on her saddle (he still had not gotten the hang of mounting a night horse, and they did not have time to wait for him to figure it out). Beast Boy knew that he could become an animal and keep up…but he was now sitting in front of Raven with her arms around him…granted that was because she was holding reins, but still…

It was just too good to pass up.

Now that they had some room, the Titans raced through the rest of the cliffs with their draconic savior circling above them, keeping the griffins at bay with occasional bursts of fire. They flew out the exit, and the griffins, due to their territorial nature, did not follow.

The dragon's shadow passed over them one last time, and the huge creature landed. Even though it was a giant, it did not make even a single tremor.

Beast Boy stared at it in awe. It looked just like the statue in the temple. Same body build, same head, same tusks (except this one had silver tusks, not gold ones) and the same look of wisdom on its face. It made Malchior look like a baby. Its feet had to be the size of a city bus!

"Guys." Raven said. "Meet Lightflight."


	27. Chapter 27

An Author's note: Now the reviewer count is at twelve, thanks to Lorendiac and timkhj for reviewing.

Yeah, I spend about four pages yapping about dragons again, anyone else think I am obsessed with them?

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

A Bit More on Dragons

The Titans stared at the huge dragon in awe, which was understandable considering the creature was about the size of skyscraper. The big dragon bent his head to get a better look at them, and Robin resisted the urge to run away. Hey, when a head THAT big is heading towards you, your first thought is to run. Even though the dragon had just saved them and seemed friendly it was hard to rid of the feeling that the entire team was basically a collection of mice from the dragon's point of view.

The dragon looked at Robin and rumbled "Hello, who are you…and why are you dressed like a traffic light?"

_How in the world does a dragon find out about traffic lights?_ Robin thought. He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice as he introduced himself and the rest of the team to Lightflight.

When he got to Raven the dragon smiled…at least Robin fervently hoped that expression was a smile.

"I've heard of you, you're Zarule's youngest granddaughter, aren't you?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably and muttered an affirmative.

"You kind of look a bit like him, you know?" the dragon said. He looked puzzled when Raven looked away as if embarrassed.

Illeria jumped in to save her sister from more questions "We need to get across the Rift, Lord Dragon. And we also have a few questions for you. Will you help us?"

The big dragon lifted his head up in the air again. "What are these questions?"

"We need to know about the Dragonborn." Illeria replied.

"Why?" the dragon growled.

"Cause Raven's one of 'em." Beast Boy said which earned him an elbow in the ribs.

"No I am not; I've just been having dreams about them." Raven growled.

Lightflight snorted "Dreams mean much to my kin. Just the fact that you are having dreams about the Dragonborn at all means something-"

"But does it mean that you are one of them?" Raven asked.

"Hmmmmm….not necessarily, but it could." Lightflight said. "It depends on the person and the dragon, basically."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"Tell me more about these dreams first."

Raven described them once again. It was getting so that she felt she should probably tote around a therapist couch to lay on when she did this. She was started to feel like a victim of Freudian analyzing.

"Well," Lightflight said when she was finally finished. "Like I said, being Dragonborn depends entirely on the person and the dragon involved. The thing about the Dragonsouls is that they retain the consciousness of the Seven, even though they are long dead. What that basically means is…well it is like they are still alive in some way. The Dragonsouls chose the humans who will carry their souls. It is not a cut and dried destiny thing. You could have the potential to be Dragonborn, but that does no mean that you will actually become Dragonborn, it will depend on whether or not the dragon accepts you, and whether you want it badly enough."

"So…what you are saying is that Raven could be Dragonborn…but might not?" Beast Boy looked confused.

"Like I said, it depends…tell me, Raven has your body been changing in any way?"

"What?" She gave the dragon an odd look.

"Are you growing wings or scales? Any tails popping up? Claws?"

"No." Raven said.

"The ones that might be Dragonborn will eventually start gaining draconic attributes to their human bodies. It is one of the signs. They will grow wings and scales and tails. They will start to smoke through the nostrils and might even gain the ability to breathe fire."

"So, this means I'm not Dragonborn?" Raven asked.

"Maybe, or it might mean that you simply are not showing any physical signs yet. The dreams come before the transformation, I do know that." Lightflight yawned. "I will tell you this much, before I was so rudely awaked by your feathered friend, I was having dreams as well-"

"Feathered what?" Raven said.

"Him, the falcon." Lightflight said and pointed to a tree. In the trees branches and small merlin poked its head around a branch, spotted Raven looking at him, and hopped back.

"Zapolio?" Raven asked. The little falcon decided to give up the hide and seek game and fluttered out, landing on Raven's shoulder and peeping at her.

"How long have you been following me?" Raven asked.

"Actually he was following me…I just told him to stay out of sight because of…well, you know." Illeria shrugged.

"You should be glad he was around, he woke me up and told me you were in trouble. He is the reason I got to you in time." Lightflight said. "But, back to what I was saying. For quite some time now I have been having dreams myself. Actually there were only two, but I feel they might be important. First I saw a human girl trapped under the earth surrounded by hairless beings. Suddenly she was consumed by green fire and became the Dragon of Time. The second concerned a red-eyed human male, also in darkness. The dragon inside of him sleeps, corrupted by the hands of evil, but the human heart has been purifying it, and the dragon inside is remembering who and what he truly is, the Dragon of War. I believe that this means that these two Dragons, the Dragons of War and Time are awake and have chosen their humans."

"Who are the other dragons?" Raven asked.

"There is the Dragon of Life, Zilantaxx, who could heal any wound no matter how fatal, and could even travel to realms of the dead and back. The Dragon of Nature, Rinjinma, was a master of the natural world, particularly to plants. The Dragon of Dimensions, Illuyankan, could travel between dimensions in an instant. The Dragon of Spirits, Gorynycaheem, could communicate with the dead. The Dragon of Time, Tiamatiania, could influence Time, speed it up and slow it down. The Dragon of War, Yoksolalthee, was a master strategist. And the last, the Dragon of Magic, Mafafneral, was a master of all forms of magic. These were the Seven First Dragons who first fought the Outer Gods and saved all of reality."

"Wow, talk about unpronounceable names." Beast Boy said, but not quietly enough.

"Actually, my true name is just as hard for you mortals. It is Amphiptereum. In our tongue it means He Who Flies with the Light, so mortals here call me Lightflight."

"Err, sorry." Beast Boy said, afraid that he had offended the dragon.

"You have nothing to apologize for, do not worry about it." Lightflight said.

"So," Raven said "Basically what you are saying is, I might be Dragonborn, but I might not be…but the Dragonborn are being chosen somewhere out there."

"Yes, that about sums it up." Lightflight said. "Now, wasn't there something else?"

"Yes, we need to cross the Rift and now if at all possible." Robin said.

"Very well," the dragon said, "follow me."

* * *

They reached the edge of the Rift, which was exactly how Arcktos had described it. It was a big hole in the ground about as wide as the Grand Canyon and much deeper. Peering over the edge Robin could see little stars twinkling merrily in the Void.

"Man, that is just plain freaky," Cyborg said. "You shouldn't be able to see space while sitting on solid ground beneath you. Just isn't right."

Robin has to agree, it was very freaky and strange. Pretty, but strange.

Lightflight approached the edge of Rift, spread his wings and roared. As if on cue a bridge of light appeared; your standard translucent white shining bridge. Standard issue. Little shining lights. Possibly generous amounts of fairy dust. You know the drill.

"Is that thing safe?" Cyborg asked, looking at the thing dubiously.

"Safer than a bunch of metal and wood slammed together by small nails and stretching hundreds of feet." Lightflight said as he walked out on the bridge. Raven, Jinx, Illeria, Arcktos and Winterwing followed with no hesitation. After a few moments the other Titans followed with varying levels of trepidation. The merlin fluttered above the group, continuously circling and fluttering.

About halfway over the bridge Lightflight's head shot up. He tested the air with his nose and gave a rumbling growl.

"Something is wrong, I can smell smoke. Hurry!" With that the dragon launched himself in the air. Knowing that smoke could mean a fire, and possibly hurt people, Robin ordered the group to follow the dragon as fast as possible.

As soon as the last person's feet had left the bridge it vanished, as these things often will.

* * *

Lightflight had been right, something had indeed been burning, and Robin was right as well in the fact that people were hurt. But there was no one to save.

It had been, at one point, a village. Now it was a collection of burned buildings and roasted corpses. No one had been spared, not even the children. Piles of blackened bodies littered the ground, some might have died before the burning due to the amount of charred spears and other weapons protruding from backs and chests, but a few just might have been burned alive. The buildings where dark black husks, and a few where even still smoking a bit from the fires that had destroyed them. The Titans had no idea who might have done this, but they had a pretty good idea: Sanath.

As soon as she saw it Starfire started crying in sympathy for the poor people who had lived here. Surprisingly, Jinx did as well. Robin, as soon as he saw his first corpse, promptly ran off to throw up in a bush. He was no stranger to death…but there was just so much of it here…Beast Boy's and Cyborg's stomachs did better, but they both turned pale and looked like they might want to throw up.

Raven just walked around like a zombie, staring at the destruction around her and muttering. Beast Boy managed to catch a few words: "Dear Azar, Sanath, what have you done?"

Illeria was busy. She had found a shack and was rummaging through it. Finally she found some charred, but usable, shovels, and brought them out. She strode over to Robin and announced:

"I'm going to give these people a proper burial. Are you going to help or not?"

Robin nodded, and the Titans set to work. A few of them carefully dragged the bodies into a central location and the others set to digging. With a half-robot, an alien, a guy who could become any animal and a dragon the work went by faster than it should have. However it was still a long and exhausting process, and all of them at some point had to run off to the bushes to purge their stomachs of food.

About halfway through the process the group heard the galloping of hoofs. Fearing that the monsters who had done this terrible thing had returned, the Titans prepared for battle.

However, Lightflight looked over at the approaching horsemen and said "Never fear, it is a Nazlar patrol."

The patrol was soon in sight, and the Titans got their first look at a Nazlar. They were riding creatures that almost resembled night horses, except for the lack of fangs. These steeds also had bird wings, not bat wings, and they looked a bit less savage than night horses.

The lead Nazlar reined in her mount and looked at the Titans with suspicion in her eyes. She was tall, taller than Cyborg, but slender. She had white hair and black skin. She had hooves that strangely reminded Robin of Trigon's hooves. The rest of her patrol seemed to male, seeing as they had curved rams horns and she did not.

"What happened here, and who are you?" the Nazlar asked.

Robin approached her. "I'm Robin, leader of the Teen Titans. We just got here and found this village like this. We're burying these people."

"Teen Titans…then…than is SHE with you? H'Radoni?"

"Who?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, she is here." Illeria said, and tried to drag a protesting Raven up to the Nazlar. Raven was glowering at her sister and grumbling threats.

Robin was completely confused. "What. Is. Going. On." He growled, trying to be calm and failing.

Raven finally rescued her arm from Illeria with one last glare. She then turned to Robin and said sullenly "It's just my name in Nazlar. 'H'Radoni' is the Nazlar word for 'raven'."

The Nazlar leader gave Raven a look, then to the Titan's surprise she got down off her winged horse and bowed to Raven. The rest of the patrol followed in suit.

"Welcome home Your Highness." She said, and Raven looked around for someplace to hide. She hated attention, and she sure didn't like being bowed to…it was too much like what Trigon would have demanded.

"I…look I'm a High Priestess of Azar, remember…you don't…I mean…you don't have to do that."

The Nazlar leader snorted "You are still Prince Flario's only daughter, and a member of the royal family. Besides that from what I have heard you are a warrior as well. Just because you have never been to your proper home before does not make you any less of a Nazlar." The Nazlar then stood up and said. "We will help you with this…if that is alright milady?"

"You don't need my permission." Raven said, trying to edge away. The Nazlar just grinned at her. She then started barking orders at her men, who began to assist the Titans with the work. As they worked Robin told the Nazlar leader (whose name turned out to be Amlerz) what they thought had happened. With the Nazlar helping the work went by even faster, and soon all of the graves had been dug.

"You are heading to castle, correct?" Amlerz asked. "I know that the king will want to know about this, and since you seem to know quite a bit about this Sanath fellow than I assume you will not mind telling him what you know."

"That's why we were going to the Nazlar kingdom." Robin said.

"We will accompany you; the king needs to know about this as soon as possible."

"I'm going as well." Lightflight said. "Actions like these stain the memory of my mother, and I shall not allow it to continue".

Robin tried not to groan. Just how many people were going to end up following them?

* * *

"Dude, how far away is this place?" Beast Boy asked. They had been riding all day, and they had yet to reach their destination. It was starting to get dark.

"We should be their by tomorrow morning." Amlerz said. "In the meantime we should probably set up camp." She then looked at Robin as if wanting to hear his opinion. Robin nodded.

Since there were so many people now, no one noticed when Beast Boy slipped away during dinner except for Raven. He had been quiet for the entire meal, which was very strange for a guy who talked a hundred miles a minute. Raven decided to follow him.

Beast Boy had found a nice quiet spot away from the others. He had been feeling a bit depressed, part of it had been because of the village. Why would anyone do something so horrible?

"Are you okay?" Raven said. Beast Boy turned and looked at her. She sat down beside him.

"That village…everyone was dead, Rae. Why would someone do something like that? It doesn't make sense."

"I don't know, I don't understand it either." Raven said. "I suppose we should be glad for that."

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, if we understood why than that would mean that we were like them, right?"

"I guess you are right." Beast Boy looked up the sky. "Stars are real pretty tonight, huh?"

Raven gave him a look. "That was an odd change in subject." She said.

"Is it just me, or do they look brighter here than they did at home?"

"Yeah, pollution less atmosphere will do that." Raven said, smiling a little. It was a little, almost nonexistence smile, but it was there, and Beast Boy noticed it. Taking a chance he scooted closer to her. To Beast Boy's surprise she did not try to move away.

"And that moon, it's full. Really cool looking huh?" Beast Boy said. He was pretty sure that this was a dumb subject, but he could think of nothing else to say.

"It's the same one that circles Earth." Raven said.

"Really?"

"Binary planet, remember?"

"Oh, right." Beast Boy decided to take a chance. Slowly, as someone approaching an animal that could bolt at any moment would have, he gently placed his gloved hand over hers. She stared at his hand over hers as if she had never seen a hand before.

"What…are you doing?" She didn't sound angry, just puzzled.

"I…I'm not sure." He said. They were really close now. Very close. As in kissing close. Raven's emotions were going wild. Had she had her powers no doubt something would have blown up right about now. A part of her was terrified of this, but most of her wanted this more than anything else in world. She fleetingly wondered if she would be as good at this as Terra must have been.

"Hey Raven, where are you?" a certain Boy Wonder's voice broke through the atmosphere, completely killing the mood. Beast Boy and Raven jerked back from each other with a jerk.

Robin walked up; completely unaware of what might have been had he not walked up just then. He looked at his two teammates in puzzlement, completely clueless.

"What's going on?" His gaze slid from Raven to Beast Boy as he tried to figure this out.

Raven got to her feet and muttered something about checking Mithrah. She then basically fled from the scene.

Beast Boy stood up as well, but he did not move. He was afraid that if he moved or turned he would end up hitting Robin. Honesty, was he going to be interrupted EVERY TIME HE TRIED TO KISS A GIRL!? Was he ever going to catch a break?

"Beast Boy?" Robin's voice grated against Beast Boy's ears.

"First it was Slade with Terra." Beast Boy growled "Then Cyborg walked in on my and Raven and now you've done it too!" Beast Boy finally turned to face Robin, who stepped back when he saw the look on his younger teammate's face. "So, Robin," Beast Boy snarled. "Is there some sort of freaking conspiracy against me or something?!" Not wanting to say anymore before he did something that he might regret, Beast Boy stalked off.

"What was that about?" Robin said, honestly puzzled.

"You really have no clue, do ya Rob?" Cyborg emerged from the bush he had been hiding behind. He had suspected that Raven and Beast Boy might be having a "moment" when he notice that the two of them were missing, and he had followed them in the hopes of seeing if anything would happen. He was almost as disappointed as the two of them must have been when Robin so rudely interrupted.

"Cyborg, what is going on?" Robin asked.

Cyborg shook his head. "Ya know, it's pretty bad when you're clueless about your own relationship with a girl, but when you can't even tell when two of your own teammates like each other…"

"Wait…you mean…Raven…and BEAST BOY? You have got to be joking!" Robin gave Cyborg an incredulous look.

Cyborg rolled his eyes "Haven't you been picking up any of the signals, man? There're almost as obvious as you and Star are…okay maybe Beast Boy's signals are a bit louder, but come on. And you're supposed to be her familiar too!" Cyborg walked away, shaking his head.

"Signals…what signals?" Robin called "Cyborg! WHAT SIGNALS!"

* * *

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Raven lay awake arguing to herself. Actually, she was arguing with her emotions, but that was basically the same thing.

"_I do NOT like Beast Boy!"_ She thought.

_"Actually, you do."_ Knowledge contradicted her. _"Every single emotion here has at least some level of affection for Beast Boy, trust me on this. Not even Malchior was able to cause such an occurrence."_

_"What do you mean?"_ Raven mentally growled.

_"When you where having that…fling with that creature I repeatedly told you how foolish you where being."_ Wisdom said, joining her sister in the argument. _"I told you that he was using you, but you refused to believe me. As I recall Timid did not like him as well, and neither did Rage for that matter."_

_"You are Wisdom, and nothing is less wise than a girl in love."_ Raven growled. _"Timid is afraid of her own shadow, and Rage hates everyone!"_

Evil sounding laughter, the laughter of Rage, echoed throughout Nevermore.

_"You_ _are wrong, I do like Beast Boy."_ Rage said.

_"What?"_ Raven was shocked by this. Rage had never shown affection for anyone before, much less Beast Boy. _"What brought this on?"_

_"His beast and mine are the same… the Beast and the Demon were made for each other, in case you did not know. The first time I saw the Beast I knew it was special, its anger and bloodlust equal mine!"_ Raven could tell that Rage was grinning inside her.

_"You are horrible."_ Raven muttered.

_"Of course I am, but that does not change the fact that everyone else in here likes Beast Boy as well."_

_"She's right."_ The small, sad voice of Timid came next. _"I like Beast Boy too…he makes me feel…safe…like when he saved us from Sanath…he's so nice."_

_"You have to face facts here, Raven. You are in love with Beast Boy, and you know it."_ Wisdom continued. _"Don't run away from this or you will regret it. You know that I am right."_

Raven pondered long and hard. She thought of all the times she and Beast Boy had been together, and found that it was true. She was in love with the grass stain. She wondered if the world was ending again.

_"Okay, so I like him…I'll admit that to myself at least. Now what do I do about it?"_

_"Tell him! Walk up to him and give him a big smooch!"_ Bravery bellowed.

_"Not on your life."_ Raven said.

_"Why not?"_ Love asked.

_"Because…he would never want to be with me. I'm creepy, remember. He'd want…someone like Terra."_

_"Then why has he been going out of his way to be closer to you?"_ Love demanded.

_"It's probably just a friendship thing. Besides…even if he did care for me, it would not be real."_

_"What are you talking about?"_ Knowledge demanded.

_"No matter what he'll always be in love with Terra. Remember when we came back from the war with the Brotherhood of Evil? He was looking all over for her, just because he thought he caught a glimpse of her in the crowd! He will always love her…never me." _Raven was surprised to find tears in her eyes, but maybe that was to be expected. It was not every day that you found yourself in love with someone you thought of as unattainable.

"_Raven…that's not true!"_ Love said.

"_It is true, and even if we did start dating or something that would change nothing. Nothing at all."_ Raven turned around on her side and tried to stop the tears.

"_No matter what…I would always be…Terra's replacement."_


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Arrival

* * *

"Stupid Robin." Beast Boy growled as he marched through the underbrush, trying to cool his temper. "Stupid anal, Type A, Batman clone, reject from a gay parade!" 

Beast Boy lifted his fists and bellowed into the air "WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET A BREAK HERE!"

"Friend Beast Boy, what is wrong? Why do you desire the 'break'?" asked a certain alien princess, who had noticed Beast Boy's angry march through the foliage.

Beast Boy jumped in the air a little and turned around. When he realized that it was Starfire he relaxed. Then he remembered that he had just called her boyfriend a reject from a gay parade and started sweating.

"Oh, hey Star…it's just an expression."

"You are evading the question, friend Beast Boy. I ask again: what is wrong?" Starfire was giving him a look every female of any species instinctively knows: the Getting Info from an Unwilling Male look.

"I…have you ever had trouble with…you know…"Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably.

"You are having the boyfriend and girlfriend problems with friend Raven, correct?"

Beast Boy leaped up again. "How did you that I-"

Starfire giggled. "I may not know your Earth customs, or the customs of this planet we are on now, but I am not blind to what is very obvious. You have deep affection for friend Raven, affection that is much deeper than just friendship."

Beast Boy fidgeted. "Yeah, but…she's so shy, Starfire! I don't know how to tell her I like her without scaring her away!" His ears lowered "I don't even know if she likes me at all…and every time I try to…you know find out someone always walks in on us! I mean, first it was Cyborg and then it was Robin and...It's just so frustrating!"

"I have had similar problems with friend Robin, only it is not because he is shy, it is because he is a fool." Starfire smiled at the dumbstruck look on Beast Boy's face. "Do not misunderstand, friend Beast Boy, I love Robin dearly, but I am not blind to his faults. It is true that he is kind, courageous and loyal, but he is also obsessive, stubborn and when it comes to matters of the heart, extremely stupid."

"Yeah, how long did it take him to realize he liked you?" Beast Boy asked.

"Far to long, friend Beast Boy…how long have you known of your feelings for friend Raven?"

"Well, ever since the museum incident…but I don't know how long they have been there…"

Starfire grinned "Perhaps all Earth boys are dumb?"

"Hehe, maybe…but my problem isn't that I don't know I love Raven, because I do, I just don't know how to tell her. And I don't know if she likes me."

"I believe that she might, but as you said she is quite shy." Starfire said. "I believe that she might suffer from fears brought on by the Malchior dragon…and Terra."

"What does Terra have to do with this?" Beast Boy asked.

"Did you not have feelings for Terra?"

"No…I mean, yeah I had a crush on her, but I…It's not the same! I love Raven, but Terra…Terra was just someone I thought I liked, not someone I really liked. Does that make any sense?"

"To me, yes, but Raven might not think of it this way. Think of how you would feel if Raven was still attracted to the Malchior dragon, would you not also feel scared and uncertain?"

"You're right…I guess Terra was the biggest mistake I ever made." Beast Boy started pacing around. "I mean, it's not like she was a bad friend…but she broke my heart so many times. It was kind of obvious the last time I saw her that she doesn't really care about me…and I don't think I care about her as much as I used to. God! That sounds so horrible, doesn't it!?"

"No, it just means that you have gotten over Terra. If she were around today you might be friends, but I doubt you would be lovers. Just because you have found out that you love another more than you loved someone in the past does not make this wrong."

"But how do I convince Raven of this…I mean, have you noticed how low her self-esteem is?" Beast Boy's ears drooped ever further.

"I am sorry, friend Beast Boy, I do not know how to rise Raven's esteem of self." Starfire's eyes brightened. "But perhaps there is a way to make sure that the next time the two of you have the romantic moment that you will not be interrupted."

"What?...you're going to run interference for us?"

"Something like that…I will have to think on this."

"Yeah, you should probably head for bed Star."

"Goodnight friend Beast Boy."

"'Night."

"But…what is a "gay parade"?

"Ummmm, forget it!"

* * *

"Let me in, I need to see the king."

A young Nazlar boy, barely out of childhood, spoke to the guards at his grandfather's room with a look that suggested that he expected to be obeyed and right now.

"Of course, Prince Seerka." The guard willingly opened the door for the young Nazlar. They knew perfectly well that if Seerka wanted to talk to the king this late it was probably important, and it was not a good idea to delay this boy. Seerka was a very particular Nazlar. He was one of the few Nazlar who had precognitive abilities. Basically, he could see the future.

They did not even bother to walk in and check to make sure the king would be alright. A human guard would have felt the need to play bodyguard, but the Nazlar did not feel like this was necessary, since Seerka was the king's own grandson. The Nazlar would never imagine that a family member might bring harm to another family member. It was unimaginable for them to even conceive of such a notation.

"Grandpa?" Seerka inquired as soon as he walked in.

"Seerka? Is something wrong?" King Zarule said. "Have you seen something?"

"We're going to have visitors tomorrow."

Zarule grinned. "I take it they are not normal visitors, right?"

"It's her, Grandpa, h'Radoni."

"What! Are you sure...never mind, of course you are sure."

"You know of that team she joined, Grandpa? She is bringing them as well."

"Hmp, I don't care if she brings half of Earth with her as long as she shows up! Just think, Seerka, we will finally get to meet her! Since she is coming of her own free will no one can object! Especially not her mother."

Seerka nodded. Arella was kind of strange subject for the Nazlar rulers. One the one hand their natural devotion to family demanded that they be involved in the lives of their relatives, even the illegitimate ones. However, in Nazlar society it is the mother that takes precedence over the father in most matters, and since Arella wanted Raven's relatives on her father's side to have nothing to do with her…

Zarule was not even sure if the girl knew that she even HAD a home here! He had always made it as clear as he could that she would be welcomed in the Nazlar kingdom if she came, but since he had never even been allowed to see her at all he did not know if she knew this.

But she was coming now, and Zarule could not have been a happier ruler.

* * *

The Titans stared at the Nazlar king's castle. It looked very much like something torn out of a storybook. The thing was on a freaking HILL! It had a freaking town below it! There was even a winding path! One almost expected Tinkerbelle to pop in a wave a magic wand over it! This fact made Raven more nervous than she had been before if that were possible. In fact it looked like she wanted to just turn around and run away. She did not, but her friends could tell that she was uncomfortable.

It did not help that the entire Nazlar patrol kept referring to her as "Your Highness"…or "milady", which kind of contributed to the nerves.

"What is wrong, friend Raven?" Starfire asked her; very curious as to why her friend was acting so nervous.

Raven sighed. "I just…the way they are treating me," she nodded at the Nazlar "They think I'm some sort of royalty but-"

"But are you not the daughter of one of their princes?" Starfire asked.

"I'm Trigon's daughter." Raven muttered. "I don't deserve this."

"Raven that is foolish! Of course you deserve this!"

"Starfire I don't know the first thing about being royalty! What if I screw it up?"

"How?"

"I don't know…and that's the problem! What if I do something offensive like use the wrong utensil or insult one of them or…or…" Raven's voice fell almost to a whisper "What if they hate me?"

Starfire leaned over on her horse and put a hand on her friend's slightly shaking shoulder. Although you could not tell by looking at her Raven was trembling all over. Starfire could tell that she was scared, but was having difficulty understanding why. She would have thought that meeting your relatives, who happened to live in a very pretty dwelling place, would be a joyous time.

"Raven, I have no doubt that your relatives will like you…and even if they do not it shall not matter. You said so yourself when you defeated Trigon that we are your family, and nothing in the universe will change that. Even if these people do not like you, you will always have us!"

Raven smiled a little bit, it was still very small and almost nonexistent, but it was still there and Starfire could see it. Starfire resisted the urge to give Raven a hug, she knew Raven was not fond of hugs.

At that precise moment a certain Boy Wonder rode up on his horse with an odd look on his face. "Hey Star, mind if I talk to Raven for a moment…you know…alone."

Starfire gave him an odd look and then rode away…but not to far that she could not eavesdrop on the conversation. It was a good thing that normal people did not know the capabilities of alien eardrums that well.

"What do you want?" Raven snarled, still a bit sore over last night.

"Ummm, what is going on between you and Beast Boy? I think I might have interrupted something last night-"

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock. What will you figure out next? The fact that the sky has clouds?"

"Raven please…I need to know."

"Why?"

"Team dynamics."

Raven snorted. _More than likely it is because he can't pick up signals. Idiot! Boy Wonder indeed. Really should have been Boy Blunder. _

"Raven…what is going on. Do…you like Beast Boy?"

Raven's eyes darted to a very interesting looking bird on the branch of a tree. It kind of looked like a male cardinal, only it was pink and had blue tail feathers. It made a very pleasant twitter.

"Raven?"

"Okay…fine." Raven muttered almost inaudibly "I…like him."

"You two going out?"

Raven fixed Robin with a Look. "You can't figure this out yourself?"

Robin turned red and looked away "I guess not. I had no clue that you two might like each other until I walked in on you. I just wanted to know what I missed."

Raven snorted. "Almost nothing…I like him…don't know if he likes me but he probably does not."

"Huh? He seemed kind of disappointed last night."

"Maybe he remembered who he was talking to."

"Raven, you lost me."

Raven snapped her head around and faced Robin with a glare. "Take a look at me, Robin. Do I have blonde hair, blue eyes and can I move rocks?"

"Ummm well, you can move rocks with your powers-"

"Is my name Terra?"

"No."

"Then Beast Boy is not interested in me! He might be my friend and I might like him but he will never think of me in that context. I'm just a friend to him."

"But Raven-"

Raven kicked her horse into a gallop and rode off to the front of the line, completely blowing off Robin. It was probably a good thing that Beast Boy himself had been in a deep discussion with Cyborg about some video game and completely missed the conversation.

"You now see the problem, Robin?" Starfire asked, riding back to him.

"You heard all that, huh? Robin said.

"Yes, and I had a strangely similar conversation with Beast Boy just last night…only it was much more pleasant and he did not walk away in a rage."

"So…wait a moment…Raven likes Beast Boy but he likes Terra-"

"No Robin that is incorrect. Beast Boy likes friend Raven, not Terra."

"But she just said-"

"She is blinded by her feelings of inadequacy and low esteem of self. Beast Boy did once like Terra, but now he had called her 'the biggest mistake I ever made'. And that is a quote, Robin."

Robin's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Okay, so, Raven likes Beast Boy and Beast Boy likes Raven, but Raven thinks that Beast Boy still likes Terra and that's why she is acting so strange and…MY GOD WHEN DID THIS TRIP BECOME A SOAP OPERA!!!!"

This little outburst earned him several strange looks, except for Raven, who refused to look at Robin at all.

"Robin…if you will please keep your voice down I would like to share with you a plan to get Raven and Beast Boy together."

Robin gave her a clueless look only a man could achieve. "Huh?"

Starfire rolled her eyes. "Do you not want to see the two of them happy together?"

"Ummmm….sure?"

"We must find a way to get them alone together with no more of the interruptions from you or Cyborg or anyone else. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, but, what are we going to do?"

"I am still thinking about how to get them alone, I need more time…and some help…"

* * *

The reaction they got in the Nazlar kingdom was very different from the one's they had received in the other Azaratian cities they had visited. Instead of every other person insulting or sneering at Raven they would look at her, mutter amongst themselves, and then…start bowing. They were brief up and down bows, and the people certainly were not groveling. In their eyes they were just giving proper respect to a long lost noble.

Said long lost noble looked like she wanted to hide.

The Titans, however, were pleased. It seemed like Raven was finally getting the appreciation that she deserved!

"Should we…you know…find an inn?" Raven said, her eyes darting about.

"Nonsense!" The Nazlar patrol leader sounded shocked by the thought "Your grandfather would kill me if he knew I let you hole up in an inn like a commoner! You and the others are heading straight up to the palace!"

"Oh joy." Raven muttered her sarcasm still in full effect. The others, however, seemed ecstatic about getting the royal treatment.

Raven's nerves only got worse as they were lead up the hill towards the castle, which to her looked like a menacing maw of doom that read "Abandon All Hope ye Who Enter Here." The urge to turn Mithrah around and run away right now was almost overwhelming.

The worst part was that not even Raven knew why in the world she was so scared.

They crossed a drawbridge and where soon through the gates, which Raven was certain resembled a mouth. She gulped as they dismounted their night horses, who where lead away by grooms. Even Mithrah went with them when he smelled the sent of food coming from the stables (even though Raven had to reassure him a bit, which was hard since she was so edgy).

They entered the front door, and Raven wondered if she was hyperventilating. She was, but just a little bit. They were going down a long hallway with a blue carpet instead of a red one. On the walls where huge portraits of what looked like battles of some kind, most likely ones form Nazlar history, but a few looked like ones form battles where no Nazlar had participated at all.

One in particular caught Raven's eye. It depicted a great white dragon wrestling with a sea serpent. A sea serpent with read scales and four glowing crimson eyes. Trigon and Azar. Even though it was just a painting Raven could feel the evil in Trigon's gaze. The same evil that had born her. She could recognize the dark gaze, though it was a painted one and not a real one. She could almost hear HIS voice in her head again, and though her powers where gone she could feel the evil inside of her boil. She shivered in horror.

She was so focused on the painting she never noticed the one beside it. This painting depicted a sea serpent, a normal blue sea serpent with sea green eyes. It was battling the armies of Scathe from the ocean. What was strange about this serpent was that it was covered in dragon claw shaped scars. It had all the same markings as the first one, though it was clearly not under Trigon's control.

Even if Raven had noticed it she would never had thought that this serpent might have been the same one that had been under Trigon's control. After all, she had been taught that the sea serpent had been destroyed.

But sometimes what you are taught is not the same as what is real.

* * *

An Author's note: No, I have nothing against gay people, I just thought that might be a nice insult for someone angry at Robin…and his outfit is a little….well…loud. 


	29. Chapter 29

An Author's note: Oh yeah, that comment about the maw of doom that read "Abandon All Hope ye Who Enter Here? That came from Dante's Divine Comedy…Inferno to be exact. I don't own it…I'm not that old.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Family

Raven jumped when she felt a rather large hand on her shoulder; a large metallic one with circuits running through it.

"You know you really need to stop blaming yourself for everything he does, Rae." Cyborg said gently.

"I know," Raven's shoulders slumped, but it was hard to tell it this was because she was depressed or because Cyborg's hands weighed so darn much. "But I came from that monster, Cyborg. I hate him, but I can't change that. I can still feel his evil inside of me, even though I banished him back to where he came from. I'm still his…spawn."

"Rae…you're wrong." She looked up at her friend in confusion. "You didn't come from Trigon. Sure he gave you your powers, but that doesn't mean that you're like him. You said so yourself that he's not your dad, so why do you keep dwelling on it?

"You're, right. It's just…I'm going to meet HIS parents, Cyborg…and…I don't know."

"Rae..." Cyborg finally noticed the second painting; the one with the blue sea serpent. Suddenly his mind made a connection.

"Hey Rae," He said as he walked over to give the painting a closer look. "I thought you said that sea serpent who Trigon took over was dead?"

Raven nodded. "Yes, that is what I was taught."

"Then who is this here?" Cyborg asked. "Looks like the same guy to me."

Raven joined him in looking at the painting "Hmmm, this is odd. It has the exact same markings as the one in the other painting. Weird."

"Hey, it's the same snake!"

"Maybe it's a picture of what the serpent was before Trigon took over?"

"Then why does he look like he was mauled by a dragon? Look at those claw marks! Is there anything else that can make those marks?"

Raven did not have an answer for that. "It must be another serpent."

"I don't know Raven, sure looks like the same one."

"What then, are you saying I was lied to!?"

"Raven…sometimes people do lie to kids for a lot of reasons. I-"

"HEY ARE YOU TO COMING!?" Beast Boy bellowed from where he was a little bit ahead of them.

The two of them shrugged and continued to walk down the aisle. Raven was lost in thought. Was it possible that she had been deceived her whole life? If so, why? Why would it matter if she knew that a sea serpent that might not still be alive today broke free of Trigon's control?

"So, Your Highness, ready to meet your family?" Beast Boy popped up beside her with a grin.

Raven winced. "Don't call me that."

"Aww, come on! Don't you think this is just too cool?!" He was practically bouncing in joy and anticipation.

"Not really."

Beast Boy ears drooped. "But you're a practically a princess! Don't all girls dream of that?"

"Beast Boy…I don't want you to treat me like a princess-"

"You're right my mistake! You should be treated like a queen!" He leaned closer to her and tried to wiggle his eyebrows in, what he believed was, a sexy manner. He ended up looking like a demented Muppet.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "You got a crop of corn growing in that mouth?" she said, but Beast Boy thought she was kidding with him…maybe.

"Maybe," he grinned again.

Raven rolled her eyes again. "I don't want my friends to treat me…weird. I liked how things where and I didn't want anything to change."

"Raven, trust me. We'll always be your friends. That's not going to change, so just try to enjoy this! Besides, it's about time you got some respect around here!"

Raven muttered something inaudible to even Beast Boy's ears. Beast Boy gently placed his arm around her shoulder. He could feel her tense a bit, but he had half expected that. He had a feeling that she was just not used to human touch, so he did not mind at all.

He did, however, remove his arm when they close to the throne room. He did not want to embarrass Raven in any way, especially since this was the first time she was meeting these people.

Raven, for her part, was surprised to find that she kind of liked his arm there and did not want it to go away. This thought, however, was quickly eclipsed by her discovery of the herald.

See, although she objectively knew that there were these guys called heralds who would bellow the names of whoever was visiting the king and queen of whatever kingdom loudly she had never really thought about what this might mean to her. To say that she was startled when they opened the big door to the throne room and she and the others where announced very loudly was understatement at best.

It did not help that the man did it right in her freaking ear.

It also did not help that he referred to her as "Highness".

"Someone please kill me now." She muttered after she had landed from jumping a mile in the air. She looked around the room she was in. It was a pretty large throne room with all the necessary décor. Raven noticed several banners with the Nazlar kingdom coat of arms: a light blue field with a large black saber toothed ram. She couldn't help but wonder if saber toothed rams were real animals, or if it was just a statement that although Nazlar where basically bipedal sheep they were still, in effect, predators.

She finally looked in the general direction of the throne, and was surprised to find that, instead of staying seated on it like a normal ruler, King Zarule was instead standing up and striding towards them…at least Raven assumed it was the king heading towards them seeing as how he had just stood up from a throne. She was even more shocked when the huge Nazlar blew past the other Titans as if they where not there, strode up to her and swept her up in a huge hug, which she did not enjoy at all. She supposed that he did not get the memo that said she was NOT a huggy person.

"What are you DOING?" she bellowed, temporarily forgetting that this was a king she was talking to in light of the fact that she was being held in the air against her will.

Zarule put her down and gave her a look she had never seen before. It was a least two thirds love and one third pride with just a hint of regret there as well.

"I think," he said "that I am making up for seventeen years of affection I could not give to you because your mother despises me and never let me see you."

Raven was not sure how to respond to that. Instead she gave the grandfather she had never known a bit of a look over. Like all Nazlar he was huge, but a bit less so than most. He looked more around seven feet tall than eight or nine. Maybe it had to do with his age. His face was eerily similar to Raven's; it was no wonder that Lightflight had said that they looked alike, except for the fact that he was male and had sideburns (a bit like Trigon himself, actually, but Raven chose not to think about that). Even their eyes were pretty much the same color but his seemed to be developing cataracts.

For his part, Zarule looked at this young woman and could not help but be reminded of his lost son. It was the eyes. It was an interesting fact that all three generations actually had the exact same eye color. Zarule wondered if anyone had told her that she had her father's eyes…most likely they had not. Still, Zarule could not help but think of Flario when he saw her, and he felt a bit of sadness at the memory of his poor trapped little boy.

He could not help but wonder if she had stopped growing. Technically, Raven was a normal sized human, but by Nazlar standards she was practically a runt.

_Probably comes from that HUMAN blood._ Zarule thought with a mild level of distaste. He didn't like humans that much.

Speaking of humans…his eyes turned to the rest of the Titans. He could not say that he was impressed at all. That one that dressed like a clown was, to him, scrawny and not too impressive at all. Zarule knew, however, that the scrawniest of humans could actually turn out powerful, so he was determined not to underestimate any of them. His eyes strayed to the red-haired…what WAS THAT? Zarule could tell that she was no human, and he wondered what this creature was. His eyes turned to the little green one, who to him resembled an orc a bit, or perhaps a goblin. He had a feeling that this was not what the green one truly was, but it reassured Zarule a bit. He could understand an orc or a goblin much better than he could a human. The next human was a short female with…was that pink hair? It certainly was. How strange. The last human was partway mechanical, and the technological hum coming off of him was loud and a bit obnoxious.

To say the least, Zarule was not too impressed with the Titans.

"I assume that this is the human group you joined, correct?" Zarule said, trying not to let his general dislike of humans come out.

"Yes, these are my friends..." Raven paused, not sure what she should call this man. True he was a king, but he had also just hugged her like she was…well a long lost relative, which she was. After a moment she finally settled on what to call him. "Grandfather."

His eyes swept over the Titans as if he was still sizing the up. He then said "You know that our people do not call others 'friend' lightly, don't you?"

"I do…I suppose if you want accuracy then you should call them my family." Raven said.

"Really? That is truly what you would call them?"

"Yes." Raven said. Although she had very little contact with Nazlar she did know a few things about them. For example, she knew that if a Nazlar called someone family, even if they were not blood related they usually meant it. Nazlar didn't take this kind of thing lightly. Basically she was letting Zarule know that she saw the Titans as more than just people she worked with.

Zarule was a bit grouchy about this. As if they did not have enough humans in the family!

Oh well, he supposed if that was how it was then that was how it was. He was not going to spoil this opportunity to get to know his granddaughter just because he did not like the people who "adopted" her.

Zarule finally actually looked at Robin "You are the leader of this team, correct?"

"Yes I am Your Majesty."

"I welcome you and your kin to my home, cousin. How long are you staying with us?"

"We didn't come for pleasure, sir." Raven spoke up. "There is an army headed your way determined to conquer this place."

"They already took my kingdom, Your Majesty." Arcktos said.

"Really?" Zarule's voice was filled with concern. "What happened to your father?"

"He's gone." Arcktos said, his ears lowering in sorrow.

Zarule blinked, his own eyes filled with a sorrow similar to Arckto's. "He was a great ruler, Arcktos. I knew him rather well. Why would anyone want to kill him?"

"We are dealing with a madman, Your Majesty," Robin said. He would have gone on if Zarule had not interjected.

"As important as this certainly is it will have to wait. At least until after more important things are taken care of."

"What can be more important than this?" Robin asked.

"Family of course. We must introduce Raven to the rest of our family. In a few hours it will be dinner time, and I suppose it will be best to it then. In the meantime I will make sure you have suitable quarters here. We'll discuss this invasion afterwards."

* * *

"Okay, why does this huge and incredibly expensive looking room have all these beds?" Cyborg glared at the room in question. It truly was a huge room. It was easily as large as the Titan's own living room, minus the television and the computers. It kind of looked like a typical palace bedroom, except for the fact that there were enough beds to fit the Titans, Illeria, Arcktos and even Winterwing all grouped in a circle in the middle of the room.

Winterwing chose a bed, jumped up, circled three times and laid down. He then yawned and spoke. "Nazlar are pack animals by nature. All family groups sleep together, sometimes even in a large pile. The only ones that do not do this are those whose children leave the 'den' or anyone who has lost a mate. As the king is now choosing to view your team as Raven's family unit it is natural for him to assume that you will all sleep in the same room. Natural for him at least."

"Sooooo, he wants us to sleep together…in the same room…won't that be awkward?" Cyborg looked around nervously.

Winterwing grinned "How so?"

"Ummm, you know!"

"No, I don't." Winterwing's panting and huffing, however, told them that he knew exactly what Cyborg was talking about but was just choosing to be difficult.

"Ya know…hormones."

"Why Cyborg," Winterwing doggy grinned even wider "are you saying that humans are so savage and wild that they cannot control their own hormones?"

"Well-"

"And it is not even mating season…Oh! But humans are always in season, aren't they? Kind of like bunnies?" Wintering grinned even wider as all the humans in the room started turning red. Illeria and Arcktos tried to contain their snickers. It was common claim among non-humanoid races that humans and there ilk were constantly "in season" and that they could not control their own hormones. Even Raven was smirking a little bit, which Cyborg noticed.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked.

"Technically I am smirking, and I'm doing it because it is true."

"But you're human!"

"Half-human. And I it IS true."

"Ummm, they're kind of right, Cyborg." Beast Boy piped up "Most mammals do have a mating season, and only humans, rabbits and great apes do not."

"I would think not, seeing as how humans are apes." Illeria rolled her eyes at the shocked looks on Robin's and Cyborg's faces. "What is your problem now?"

"We aren't apes!" Robin bellowed.

"What are you then? A fish?" Illeria replied.

"We don't think of ourselves that way!" Cyborg bellowed.

Arcktos snorted. "And therein lies the problem. What is it with you humans? Look at me, I am clearly a canine as is Winterwing. Illeria is a feline and those nice people out there," he gestured outside the door to indicate the Nazlar "are ovine-"

"Huh?" Cyborg interrupted.

"Sheep. Genus Ovis." Beast Boy said.

"Huh?" Cyborg said again, not liking the fact that for once Beast Boy seemed to know more about what they were talking about then he did.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "Dude, don't you know anything about animals? Sheep are in the genus classification ovis. That's were he's getting the word ovine from. Like canine is a word for dog? Ovine is another word for sheep."

"How do you know this?" Cyborg stared at his friend as if he had grown another head. "You can barely work a VCR and you know animal classifications?"

"Dude, I can turn INTO animals! What kind of person would I be if I didn't know SOMETHING about them?"

"Oh…umm…okay."

Long pause, then: "What where we talking about?" Cyborg said

"Ummm, I think we were talking about the…room arrangements." Robin said.

"Right…so what are we going to do?" Cyborg looked over at the beds.

"I suggest you pick a bed." Arcktos said, selecting one he liked and plopping his bag on it.

"But…can't we get separate rooms?" Robin asked a bit desperately.

"We could, if you want the king to think you are a group of typical humans." Illeria said.

"Typical?"

"You know: can't control your hormones, constantly craving sex of any kind, no self control, and unpredictable, crazy, rude." Illeria counted off these qualities on her fingers "Need I go on?"

"No…I guess not…anyone have a problem?" Robin looked about the room, desperate for someone to give him some wiggle room.

Jinx tested out a bed by leaping onto it in a sitting position. "Unless you are planning anything strange in here, than no." She said.

Starfire, who had been very confused during most of the conversation, did not seem to have a problem with it either. Strangely enough, it seemed only Robin and Cyborg found this arrangement uncomfortable.

Robin was in a very sticky situation. As it turned out Starfire insisted that they have beds next to each other, and even though it was perfectly innocent on her part (she was actually trying to arrange it so that Beast Boy and Raven would be…close to each other, not realizing the implications of this at all), that did not stop Robin's own male human hormones from having a little party in his head. However, if he refused than he would have to explain to Starfire why, and he was afraid to hurt her.

Not to mention the fact that he would be accused of not being able to control his hormones. Which he could do!

Really.

He was sure of it.

* * *

Dinner, as it turned out, was very interesting. For one thing no matter how many times Robin tried to talk to King Zarule about the invasion he would always be told to talk about it later. No matter how urgent Robin thought it was it was clear that he would not be swaying this ruler one bit. Zarule was determined to have a nice family meal here, and by Azar that was what he was going to get!

Another interesting aspect was the Royal Family's table manners…or lack thereof. While not quite as bad as it had been on Starfire's planet (none of the Titans were going to forget THAT anytime soon), the Nazlar still were very…loose.

The first indication of this was when Beast Boy asked one of the twin Nazlar boys, it was either Holft or Kale (the Titans could not tell), to pass him a roll. Beast Boy was completely taken off his guard when Raven's older cousin TOSSED him the bread product instead of PASSING it. It was lucky that he did not drop the thing. It was like that all around the table. Nazlar where just leaning across people and things to grab whatever bowl they wanted, they would toss food to others around the table when they were asked for anything, and they did not seem to grasp the need for utensils at all unless they happened to be eating a soup, and even then they seemed content to drink straight out of the bowl. They were not MESSY, at least not on purpose, but anyone who came to this table expecting impeccable Victorian manners would have been shocked.

Cyborg and Jinx immediately fell into this attitude with obvious relief. Both had been a bit nervous about insulting Raven's family, but it appeared that this was not going to be the case. About halfway through the proceedings Cyborg even managed to get into a belching contest with the Nazlar around him, who seemed to find this quite amusing. Jinx just placed her feet on the table and relaxed. No one paid her any mind at all.

Robin watched all of this with mild surprise. This really was not what he expected from royalty at all.

"So, you are confused?" the person beside him said. This person, Robin forgot his name for a second, was a smallish Nazlar boy with crystal blue eyes that frankly reminded Robin of Raven in a way. Not their color, but their…depth.

"I guess I thought that royalty would act a bit more polite than this." Robin said.

"This is polite for us. Impolite would be if we ignored you and acted stiff around you. Your 'polite' is our 'rude'." The boy said with a smirk that once again reminded Robin of his wizard friend again.

When Robin thought for a bit it did make some sense. After all, if family was so important to Nazlar then it would make sense for them to act like a family. That was all this was: a family acting relaxed around each other.

"Sorry, but who are you? I don't think I caught your name?" Robin said.

"Seerka, I used to be the youngest here until Raven came."

"Really?"

"By about a year or so." Seerka shrugged. "I know I'm a bit small for a Nazlar. I'm a bit of a runt you see."

"I'm sorry."

"Why? Did you do it?" Seerka said.

"No, I was just being sympathetic."

"Then just say that next time, don't act like you did something when you did not."

"Is she always that jumpy?" Seerka asked, now studying Raven, who was being questioned by her relatives. It seemed like they all were trying to catch up with her. You could tell the attention was bothering her a bit.

"She doesn't like attention that much." Robin said.

"Hmmm, so I see…what is wrong with that green fellow? He has not eating any food at all."

"He's eaten the salad."

"Like I said. No food at all." Seerka replied.

"That is food to him, he's a vegetarian."

Seerka's eyes widened. "Really? Is he ill?"

"No, he's a vegetarian."

"Like I said, is he sick?"

"He doesn't like meat. He won't eat it."

"Have you found a way to cure him yet?" Seerka gave Beast Boy a worried look.

"He's not sick, Seerka. He doesn't like to eat meat because he can change into animals. He thinks it is immoral."

"What could be immoral about following your nature? Nazlar are predators. I am a predator. Am I immoral?"

"Well, I don't think so, and I'm sure that Beast Boy does not think like that either…he just prefers to eat a non-meat diet."

"Poor fellow. Such a life must be horrible." Seerka was now giving Beast Boy a sad look. "Anyway, tell me about that big metal guy over there…"

And it went on from there. Seerka talked to Robin about every single member of his team. Robin wondered why he was so interested, but decided that it could not hurt to humor him.

Around the table similar behavior was going on. The Nazlar where extremely open with the Titans, and the gathering soon turned into a kind of strange family reunion, at least that was what it was beginning to feel like.

After the meal and the subsequent dessert, this turned out to be an assortment of different kinds of sweets including cakes, ice creams, puddings and the dreaded pie, Zarule finally looked at Robin and asked about the invasion.

Robin rose from his seat and explained about Sanath and what they had discovered in the Caninoid kingdom. Occasionally Raven would interject a fact or two, but Robin did most of the talking.

When Robin concluded Zarule leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I never thought I would have to see my people ever fight again. I thought we were done with that sort of thing. But if this Sanath wants a fight then that is what I will give them!"

"Father," Nakla, Zarule's eldest daughter and heir spoke up "do you think we should contact the orcs? They have been our allies before, and certainly they will see the wisdom in siding with us in this conflict."

Zarule nodded. "Maybe so….it would not hurt to send someone to talk to them."

"The Warriors of Azar will be here as well." Raven said, but Zarule was shaking his head.

"While the Warriors are good fighters it is not a good idea to rely upon them in a crisis. You never know when their Counsel will call them back. I hate to say this in front of you, Raven, but the Temple folk are not too reliable."

Raven bristled. "What does that mean?"

"Surely you know what I am talking about. There have been times in history when the Temple has gone against their word or changed their minds. The only people there who are even slightly trustworthy are your sect, the Makhar."

Raven wanted to argue, but the sad fact was that he was right. It annoyed her, but that did not mean it was untrue.

The Titans and the royal family talked into the night, strategizing. When ten o clock rolled around Zarule suggested it was time to turn in, due to the amount of yawing that came from the table.

The Titans stumbled into bed without any complaints about the bedding arrangements. There would be no interesting incidents that night, as they all swiftly fell asleep.


	30. Chapter 30

An Author's note: Thanks for otak the Canadian and The-Holy-Desciple-of-Muse for reviewing.

Finales are over, summer is here and I can get back to making my stories first priority instead of second. Rejoice readers!

Rejoice!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A Little Bonding

A nice cheerful little ray of sunlight invaded the Titan's room and struck Beast Boy on in face. Usually he would have slept until noon, but that happy little beam was so bright that it woke him up early…for him. Beast Boy grumbled about being woken up, but the ray did not really seem to care what Beast Boy's opinion was.

Beast Boy turned over to escape the ray's gaze and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a still sleeping Raven. Beast Boy's half-awake mind decided that this was not a bad thing at all; in fact his sleepy brain said it was a very good thing. Would have been even better if he was a bit closer to Raven…say in the same bed.

Her face looked strangely relaxed when she was asleep. Maybe it was because she was not awake to maintain her grouchy attitude. In fact, to Beast Boy she looked rather cute when she was asleep. He grinned and reached over to brush a bit of hair that had fallen in her face. He could not help but wonder why in the world Malchior had been stupid enough to break her heart. She was so darn beautiful.

He sat up and looked around. Everyone else was still asleep, even Cyborg was resting, though he had that portable battery pack thing out and had hooked himself up to it. Why was it, even though he was just recharging, that he still managed to snore?

Someone knocked on the door, and Beast Boy got up to see who it was. He opened the door to find a Nazlar servant looking at him with a bunch of trays on those little rolling cart things with what appeared to be food on them. Beast Boy could tell what this was: room service!

The Nazlar appeared a little nervous about something "Ummm," he said "Which one of you was the herbivore?" he asked.

"Herb-Oh! That would be me! But the term is vegetarian, dude."

"….dude?"

"Just an expression. Don't worry about it." Beast Boy grinned.

"Okay…there was a special tray for you. It's the one right here with the extra pancakes and the little fruit bowl." The Nazlar pointed at said tray. He was right; the fruit bowl was very little. In fact it only contained two fruits, a bunch of grapes and a clumsily peeled orange.

"Dude, where did you get these?" Beast Boy could not help but ask. After all, weren't these people mainly meat eaters?

"The orange came from the tree in garden. We don't eat them, but the king likes the way oranges smell so he planted one. The grapes were going to be fermented to make wine, but the kitchen managed to get this bunch for you. We also gave you the extra pancakes because the others got things like bacon and eggs and we wanted to make sure you got enough. Is all of this alright?" The Nazlar gave Beast Boy a kind of hopeful look.

Now, while Beast Boy normally ate nothing but tofu that did not mean he would not eat normal pancakes. After all, animals do not die in the making of pancakes. He just preferred tofu. Funny as it sounded he honestly liked tofu. But Raven had said there was no tofu here. Besides that he was not going to whine at these people who had obviously done the best they could considering the circumstances to accommodate him in his diet.

"It's great, dude. Just leave the trays here."

The Nazlar nodded and left, pleased that they had managed to make a meal that the herbivore…excuse me, vegetarian could like. The Nazlar, however, could not help but wonder: if this green fellow was an herbivore why did he have fangs?

Meanwhile, Beast Boy had wheeled in the trays. He looked around the room and noted that everyone else was still snoring away.

It would be a shame to let this nice food get cold, wouldn't it?

He would have to remedy the situation!

Ten seconds later a green rooster was crowing his heart out in the middle of the room. Five seconds after that he was bombarded by several flying pillows.

"Beast Boy…why did you do that?" Robin growled, his hair disheveled and voice thick from sleepiness.

"Dude, I was the wakeup call!" Beast Boy head popped up from the small mountain of pillows. "Look, we got room service!" He pointed to the trays, which he had made sure to put out of the way just in case something like this happened. Instantly everyone forgot about killing Beast Boy in favor of the trays.

The normal trays did contain pancakes, but they also had large amounts of ham, eggs, and bacon. There was also a huge quantity of maple syrup, and warm maple syrup at that. Beside the syrup was a thick black substance that none of the Titans could identify except Raven. Turns out it was molasses and it was for the pancakes as an alternative to the syrup. None of the Titans were particularly inclined to try it except for Starfire…but she would eat her pancakes with mustard.

"So, are we going to the festival?" Arcktos asked once everyone had been stuffed.

"What festival?" Robin asked.

"The Nazlar always have a festival around this time of year. It should have started today." Arcktos shrugged. "Not sure what they are celebrating, but from what I hear there is quite a bit to do."

"But…there's going to be a battle soon!" Robin said.

"That won't stop the Nazlar from celebrating. In fact it will just give them an excuse to party harder. If this is going to be their last week alive Nazlar will usually spend it having fun. Frankly I kind of see the logic in that." Arcktos shrugged again.

Robin sat there for a few moments trying to grasp the fact that these people wanted to party while an army gathered who-knows-were around them. He then turned to his friends, who all looked eager to go out and have some fun. Well, okay, Raven did not look that eager she looked neutral, which to her was eager. He sighed and said "Let's go."

* * *

Raven did not find the fact that Starfire wanted to go to the celebration with Robin that surprising, after all the two of them were a couple. However she started to suspect something was up when Arcktos, Illeria and Winterwing all managed to separate themselves from the group without her knowing. Then when both Cyborg and Jinx vanished into thin air she knew that there was a conspiracy going on, a conspiracy that left her alone…with Beast Boy. Oh sure she had Mithrah with her (she had planes for Mithrah today), but still…

Even though Raven was a bit disgruntled at being set up, Beast Boy was practically bouncing in glee. Here he was going to a fair (or at least the Nazlar equivalent) with the girl of his dreams…even though the thought of carnivals did stir up memories of a certain blonde memory challenged geomancer.

Thank goodness there were no roller coasters, it would be pretty hard to build one in a world without an internal combustion engine, but there were a lot of carnival games. Some, like the old throw the ball at the bottle game where also found on Earth, while a few of them where distinctly Nazlar. Beast Boy saw several of them engaging in a contest to see whose horns where the sharpest by repeatedly ramming themselves into a wall and measuring the holes. Beast Boy figured that Nazlar men either had really hard heads or that they simply did not care how damaged their brains became.

"So where are we headed?" Beast Boy said cheerfully.

"Ummmm, well…" Raven trailed off. She looked a bit nervous about something.

"What is it?" Beast Boy stopped walking and gave her a look, wondering what was going on.

Raven sighed and pointed to a big sign that depicted several creatures, most of them equine, racing around a track. Beast Boy grinned, catching on.

"You're going to race Mithrah? Dude, that is so COOL!" Beast Boy gave Raven his patented goofy grin. "That's why you brought him right? Man, I bet he'll leave the rest of them eating his dust!"

"What a wonderful night horse! Is he yours, cousin?" Someone shouted to Raven and Beast Boy. It was a female Nazlar leading one of those standard winged horses, an almost pure white one. Unlike Mithrah, who had horns and sharp teeth, this creature simply looked like a beautiful white horse with large feathered wings. The Nazlar leading the flying horse was one of the ones that had been at dinner last night. After a nice healthy brain rack (in which the hamster in Beast Boy's mind was finally revitalized and running on his wheel again) Beast Boy finally came up with…well not a name, but an i.d. This was…one of the older royal family children…eldest granddaughter maybe…darn what was the name?!

"Zaka, right." Raven said, saving Beast Boy from a brain overload. She had a much better memory than he did…but it did help that this particular Nazlar had chatted with Raven most of the night about horses and other similar equines. As it turned out they both shared an interest in horses, though Zaka had a fondness for standard flying horses, not night horses.

"Yes, and this is Rush." Zaka patted her mount on the neck. Rush, a much gentler creature than Mithrah, whickered softly and nudged his rider in a friendly manner. Mithrah snorted derisively and gave his "mommy" a nudge as well. Only Beast Boy had a clue what they were doing, they were bragging about their riders. What amused Beast Boy was that a similar conversation was going on between the riders. As it turned out Rush was the current champion here, and Zaka had no problems telling them this.

"So, you are racing him?" Zaka asked Raven. Her tone was not at all challenging or resentful, in fact she seemed to like the idea.

"Yes." Raven said with an odd look on her face, an almost feral grin. It was almost like that look she had given Cyborg when she was just about to clobber him with that Stank ball after the Malchior incident…

"Good luck," Zaka grinned "But I have to warn you that Rush and I have never been defeated!"

If anything that strange look on Raven's face deepened. She knew perfectly well how fast her beloved night horse could run, and she knew he could win a race with anything under the sun. She was not usually a competitive person…but this was different.

This had to do with horses.

All of a sudden Beast Boy got a great idea. He turned to Zaka and asked "Hey, do you have ride something to enter this race?"

"Well…no, but how do you expect to keep up without a steed of your own?" Zaka asked.

Beast Boy grinned.

* * *

"Robin…what are they doing?" Starfire gazed at the dirt ring in front of them with curious eyes.

Robin looked at the activity in front of them. People with various padded weapons running around in a hustle…it looked like they were either setting up some sort of demonstration or a contest of fighting skills…and Robin was putting his money on the fighting skills.

Robin's bet was confirmed when a Nazlar stood in the middle of the ring and started bellowing:

"Presenting the great champion fighter of the Nazlar: Kzaer! First husband of the Heir to the throne! Let all who wish to challenge his might step forwards and make themselves known!"

Robin recognized this guy. He had been one of the ones at the dinner table last night. He was a muscular Nazlar that towered over the crowd, and this was a crowd of Nazlar!

One by one, and sometimes even in groups the Nazlar challengers stepped up to fight Kzaer and all of them were defeated. It was not just the big man's size that did it. He was a truly skilled fighter, but after a few battles Robin began to become familiar with his style.

The Boy Wonder was convinced that he could beat the Nazlar champion.

"You are going to do battle with him, aren't you Robin?" Starfire stared at her boyfriend and then grinned. "We will do battle together!"

Robin locked eyes with her. He could never have convinced her to stay behind. After all despite her naive nature Starfire was, when all was said and done, a warrior. She would always be a warrior.

And Robin would not have it any other way. Together they stepped into the ring and to challenge the greatest fighter of the Nazlar.

* * *

However all was not going well for Jinx and Cyborg. Jinx was still a bit resentful at Cyborg for lying to her when he was Stone, and she had been spending all this time trying to pick a fight with him.

"Why are you following me if you hate me so much!?" Cyborg finally bellowed at her.

"'Cause I got things to say to you, you lying slug!"

"For the last time Jinx: IT WAS A MISSION! I had to do it! Robin ordered me to! Honestly! You're one of us now! Why are you rehashing this!"

"Because you lied to me!"

"What was I supposed to say? Hey Jinx, guess what, I'm really a Teen Titan spying on you!"

"You don't get it do you?" Jinx shook her head "You have no idea what I want."

"WHAT! For Pete's sake what do you want?" Cyborg bellowed.

"Three words." Jinx growled. "Two if you use the contraction. Something you never gave me even when I joined you."

"Huh?" Cyborg looked puzzled. His mind going through the possibilities. When he finally came up with an answer he almost laughed. "That's all you want? Okay…I'm sorry for lying to you Jinx."

"FINALLY" Jinx bellowed. "The idiot male gets a clue! Took you long enough! Now, do you mean it?"

"I do," Cyborg replied. "I don't like lying to people, Jinx. But do you understand that it was my job? I mean…I really did like you and Mammoth and Gizmo…but the Titans are more than my friends. They're my family…and frankly I kind of wish I had the opportunity to ask you to join us long ago…"

The two of them stared at each other. In another time in other place they might have been more than friends, but that could not and would not happen. For one thing Jinx was with Kid Flash now…and she had a feeling that it was not Cyborg she had liked, but his Stone persona.

"So…we cool Jinx?" Cyborg asked after a long pause.

Jinx shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

At that precise moment a ball flew through the air and smacked Cyborg in the head. He winched and caught the thing in his hands. It was about the size and color of a basketball, but it had the sewing markings of a baseball.

"Oh no! Sorry about that!" Two similar looking Nazlar charged up and Cyborg recognized them as the twins Holft and Kale. Holft (or at least Cyborg thought it was Holft) looked embarrassed and nervous, while his brother looked amused.

"Hey! What are ya playing?" Cyborg asked, his old jock instincts blooming to the surface. He loved sports, all sports and holding this ball was bringing back that old adrenaline rush.

"Nothing specific." Kale said as he took the ball away. "We're just kind of kicking it around."

Cyborg looked from the Nazlar to the ball. An idea started to form in his head.

"Hey boys, I know a great game we can play. It's a little game my buddy BB and I came up with called Stank ball…"

* * *

Have you ever tried to get a temperamental night horse in a starting box?

It is not easy.

For one thing night horses, like normal horses, do not like to be enclosed in small spaces. Unlike the normal horse, however, they will not stop at rearing and backing up. Any groom that gets in the way of the night horse's fangs and horns will be either bitten or impaled, which can be mildly uncomfortable.

Fortunately Raven managed to get Mithrah in without too many mishaps…at least not bloody ones. Even in the box Mithrah was showing all the signs of an unhappy night horse. He fidgeted and growled and rustled his wings and snapped. How Raven managed him Beast Boy would never know.

Beast Boy himself was standing in a box himself. The Nazlar had given him funny looks when he said he would be participating in the race by himself and not with a mount, but they had let him in anyway. He was going over the track map they had shown him in his head. Instead of a normal circular track this race would be done over local terrain: first over the fields, then up a mountain path, then through a forest, over a river, and finally doubling back over the fields to the starting position.

This was going to be fun.

A horn blew and they were off! Beast Boy shifted to a horse and blew through the gate amidst the rumbling roar of hooves. For a moment all he could see was horse bodies running in a huge jumble. He was being pushed back to the end of the line.

That would not do at all! He shifted to a kangaroo and leapt over horses like he was leaping over hurdles. He could hear the Nazlar audience gasping in surprise. Clearly very few of them knew that he was a shape shifter. Leaping in this way he managed to get past the main group and take third place. He was right behind Mithrah and Rush.

The two equines seemed equally matched. Neither one of them was overtaking the other. They were…well they were neck and neck, and neither of them was going to give up their position. They were mirror images of each other, one dark and one white, one vicious and one calm, one savage and one tame. And between them coming up fast…was a goofy green kangaroo.

Over the fields they charged (or hopped). Two mighty horses and their riders…and a green kangaroo. Zaka, who had never even heard of a kangaroo before, stared at the strange green creature with an open mouth. She tore her eyes away from the odd looking creature that Beast Boy had become and concentrated on the trail. Raven and Mithrah where proving to be much harder than she expected, and she knew that she had to concentrate on this race and the race alone if she wanted to win.

Up the mountain they charged, Beast Boy changing into a mountain goat as he went. Seeing as how he was a bit slower in this form than as a kangaroo he lost ground, but a kangaroo was not suited for this rocky terrain. Heck, the night horses were having a bad time of it as well.

Up the rocky path…and Beast Boy got an idea! As soon as he had topped the hill he sifted to armadillo. Curling up in a ball he rolled downhill letting gravity do the work for him. In this form he blew past Raven and Zaka, who both let out cries of shock as he tumbled downhill.

The forest was at the bottom of the hill and the instant he hit the bottom he shifted to a baboon. His legs where getting tired so he decided to rest them…Tarzan style! He swung from branch to branch, shrieking his baboon shriek. Looking down he saw Raven and Zaka still racing side by side.

From the trees he dove into the rivers waters and went to dolphin. He jumped and leaped like a torpedo, but he could still see Raven and Zaka on the bride over the river. It was a small bridge only fit for one horse, and Beast Boy's dolphin grin widened as he saw Raven overtake her cousin.

Finally, the home stretch. Beast Boy knew the perfect form for this last bit. The fastest animal in the world, the mighty cheetah! He speed over the grass at an incredibly speed, now sure that he would win…but were those hoof beats he heard? Yes! They were! He glanced behind him and saw Raven and Mithrah right behind him and coming up fast. The two of them moved to pass him, but he blocked them. Sure, he loved Raven, but that did not mean he was not going to throw the race!

He could see the finish line coming up and he poured on more speed, but so did Mithrah. How fast was that horse capable of going!? But he would not let them pass!

Turned out, however, that he had no choice. A shadow passed over him, and he looked up to see Raven JUMP Mithrah over him like he was a hurdle! He was so stunned he tripped a little. He recovered quickly, but it was too late to take back the lead. He watched as Raven and Mithrah crossed the finish line, then Beast Boy crossed, and coming up fast, but still third, was Zaka and Rush.

Zaka dismounted, blown away by what she had just witnessed. "The two of you are amazing!" she said enthusiastically. "I've never seen a night horse with that kind of speed! And you Beast Boy! How did you do that?!"

Beast Boy was not sure how to respond. He did, however, knew how to respond to Raven's win. Before she could object he threw his arms around her. For a brief moment Raven stiffened like she always did when confronted with human touch…but then slowly, ever so slowly she let her usually tense spine relax. Her body went from ramrod straight and trembling to letting herself lean against Beast Boy a little…then tentatively her hand came up and circled his waist.

And she hugged him back.

* * *

After the race the three of them, Beast Boy, Raven and Zaka bought some ice cream together, Beast Boy carrying Raven's new horse shaped golden trophy. Beast Boy was pleasantly surprised to find that this place had ice cream, and he truly enjoyed his double chocolate cone. Raven had opted for a vanilla and Zaka had a terrible concoction that could only come from a meat oriented society…beef flavor.

Just think about that for a moment.

Anyway, they were walking around, Beast Boy staying as far away from the beef smell as he could while being somewhat polite. Zaka was talking about some battle ring, but Beast Boy had not been paying attention until he heard the phrase "one of my dads."

"Whoa! Time out dudes! What do you mean by 'one of my dads'" he asked Zaka.

"Well, Mother has two husbands, so I have two dads." Zaka said as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

"Dude…how does that WORK?" Beast Boy gave her an incredulous look.

"Ever seen a bunch of male Nazlar during mating season? Let's just say you don't want to get between them." Zaka said "Long ago the females of our race decided that the best way to handle feuding males was to mate with both of them at the same time. Saves trouble in the long run. Why are you so shocked?"

"It's a special kind of shock, Zaka." Raven said with a grin. "Culture shock. Is that him?" she asked as she approached the circle "and…is that Robin?"

"Yeah…and Star too. Look at 'em go!" Beast Boy said.

Robin and Starfire had been fighting for about ten minuets. Kzaer was a tough guy, and it did not help that his favorite attack was a head butt…and he had a huge head!

Robin dodged fists and claws and hooves and horns. Man, this guy was fast! It seemed to Robin that he had landed a dozen blows and while he had not been struck once he still had not done a bit of damage. True Robin was faster than Kzaer, but hitting him was like hitting a brick wall!

As for Starfire, well her blows where always painful, but nine times out of ten Kzaer managed to dodge them. She was not using starbolts; she feared that would be unsporting, so she stuck with her fists.

Robin knew what to do, as fast as a snake he grabbed the Nazlar by the horns. Just as he suspected the big man started to toss his head and sling Robin around.

"STAR! NOW!" Robin bellowed.

Gathering her strength, Starfire leaped up and smacked Kzaer with an uppercut that not only knocked it out, it threw him right out of the ring. He landed on the ground and did not get back up.

The Nazlar announcer was slack jawed for a second, but he soon recovered and declared Robin and Starfire the winners and presented them with a trophy in the shape of a golden ram's horn. He then went to find some cotton to stuff in his ears to get rid of Starfire's squealing.

Starfire spotted her friends in the crowd and flew over to them "Is it not glorious friends!" she gushed. "Robin and I have been awarded this wonderful horn shaped metal sculpture! And it seems you have one as well!"

"They are called trophies Star." Raven said in an uncharacteristically gentle manner.

"Raven got hers in a horse race!" Beast Boy said proudly.

While Starfire showed off the prize, Robin went over to talk to Kzaer, who was picking himself off the floor. The big Nazlar looked at Robin with a great deal of respect.

"I have never seen a human with such skill in battle." He said. "Where did you learn to do that?"

Robin grinned "I've trained with the best." He said, his mind wandering to both Batman and the True Master.

"Well, it defiantly paid off! And your mate! I never thought that a human would have that kind of strength!"

"Er…actually she's not human, she's an alien…and she really isn't my mate."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend." Robin had no trouble admitting that Starfire was his girlfriend.

"So you are courting her, then? Well, I hope you don't have to battle to many other males for her!" It spoken in the tones of a good luck wish, and Robin thought that the statement was meant to be encouraging.

"Hey Dad! Shall we had back to the palace for lunch?" Zaka said, walking up with Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"This is news, little one?" Kzaer said with affection in his voice.

"Yeah, let's go. Maybe later we can come back and try some of these carnival games!" Beast Boy said. He looked at Raven and wiggled his eyebrows "I can get you another giant chicken."

"Wow, then I really will be the luckiest girl in the world." Raven said, but now instead of sarcasm there was quiet joy in her voice. As far as she knew the other Titans did not know that the giant chicken was safe in her closet at home.

The group headed towards the castle just in time to see a huge crowd gathered round. Wondering what was going on they arrived just in time to find a full-fledged Stank ball match underway right there.

"Cyborg has corrupted my people." Raven said with a groan.

"YO!" Cyborg bellowed as he ran towards them. "Ya won't believe how quickly these guys caught on to Stank ball! They love it!"

"Oh wondrous joy." Raven said, her words soaked with sarcasm.

"We're going to get a bite, Cy, you want to come with?" Beast Boy asked.

"Sure! Let's go!" Cyborg said his spirits still high from the match. Soon Jinx, Holft and Kale had joined them.

As they walked general chatter filled the air that Raven was willing to ignore. Until Zaka turned to her and innocently asked "Are you going with anyone to the ball tonight?"

Raven stopped dead in her tracks. Somewhere an old record stopped in mid track with a screech. Her eyes widened and for a moment fear filled them. Fear that no one or nothing could inspire like this.

"Ball?"

* * *

A/N: No own Tarzan (or Jane). No own Teen Titans.

Okay, I'll stop writing like a jungle man.


	31. Chapter 31

An Author's note: Okay, this is going to be my first real attempt at "romance". It will probably turn out sappy, corny, cheesy and not at all good in any sense of the word. I'll try my best, but…Let's just say this; you might want to bring your own barf bag…especially you Cheese.

Hey, at least I warned you.

However, even if it turns out pathetic please read the entire thing. There is some pretty important stuff in this chapter.

Oh, and thanks to Kioshi, LunadiDomani and Chargone for reviewing!

* * *

Chapter Thirty

Ball

It had only been about thirty minutes.

Raven was going nuts.

She didn't want to be here, it was the last place she wanted to be. A ball, a freaking ball! She hated dances…really hated them. The noise, the vibrations of the music (okay so it was not that bad here where they had actual instruments and not electronically aided…whatever they were, but still) the fact that she always ended up at a wall somewhere staring at everyone…okay so that was mostly her fault, but once again…

The worst part of all of this was the memories. She could tolerate most parties on Earth better than this, because Earth was not Azarath.

The last party she went to on Azarath ended with the death of one of her closest friends. It's very hard to forget that.

And the worst part was: She was in a dress.

Somehow the females in her new "family" had learned about her dislike of formal wear (Raven blamed Starfire for that, she just knew her alien friend must have mentioned it) and had practically assaulted her with long silky fabrics, lacy THINGS she could not even give name too, horrible perfume that she nearly chocked to death on and, worst of all: PINK FRILLS. Somehow Raven managed a compromise. She wore a dress, but it was a reasonably plain blue one that was not cursed with either a lace or a frill. Darn thing was one of those monstrosities with no sleeves, but at least it was not PINK.

Even though she was not happy, not to mention bored to tears, she was amused by the attitudes of her Nazlar kin. Unlike last night, which had been nice and informal, the Nazlar where now acting…well stiff and formal. After a few minutes she decided it was because the place was now filled with strangers instead of just family.

Raven sighed as she watched other people dancing around the room. A part of her wanted to join in….but she knew that would never work. For one thing she couldn't dance, for another…she just would not fit in. She never did. Not really.

Her eyes strayed to Robin and Starfire, particularly Starfire. The two of them looked like they where having the time of their lives. Naturally Starfire looked like the princess she was. Heck Starfire looked like she walked strait out a story that began with the words "once upon and time" and ended with "happily every after". How did she do it?

Raven could not help but feel a bit jealous of Starfire. Her friend was just…so darn pretty and Raven wasn't. In fact, Raven was very sure that she was the complete opposite of pretty. Raven was sure that she was, in fact, ugly. So many people had called her that when she was little that she had begun to believe it. Sure they had all been the bigoted ones who hated her for being Trigon's daughter and a Halfblood, but if you tell a little girl something like that for so long she will begin to believe it. The idea had only been reinforced after that comment Star had made during that mind switch about "looking like this forever". Raven was not an idiot. She knew that her friends must find her unattractive as well. The only difference was that they where nice about it. Heck, the only one who had ever called her beautiful was a lying lizard who only wanted to use her…and what did that tell you?

Raven gave herself a mental shake. This was useless! It did no good to be jealous of Starfire because the alien had been born with all the beauty of a supermodel while she had not! It was not Star's fault and it didn't do any good at all.

But…a part of her did wish that she could be as pretty as Starfire…or at least that she could come close.

Air. That's what she needed. Some air. She needed to get away from this hot, stuffy room and somewhere nice and peaceful. Silently, so that no one knew that she was slipping out she crept to an exit that led to the gardens. Once there away from the crowds and the noise she breathed a sigh of relief. Walking deeper into the foliage she eventually found a nice clearing with a waterfall fountain thing and some benches to sit on. She eased herself onto one and watched the water fall. It was nice and peaceful, a welcome change from the noise of the ball.

A twig snapped behind her and she whirled around. Startled she came face to face with a certain green boy. You guessed it! Beast Boy.

"Hey." He said gently.

"Hey." She replied.

"Tired of the crowd?" He asked.

"Yeah, a bit…you?"

"Got tired of Cyborg calling me Sir Pantaloon." Beast Boy grinned as he sat beside her. Looking closely she could see where Cyborg had got the nickname. Someone had gotten Beast Boy into a get up that looked like it came straight from the "handsome prince" section of the fairy tale, pantaloons and all.

"Please tell me you didn't choose that getup?" Raven said, a bit amused.

"Not really, the Nazlar dudes seemed to think its fashionable or something like that, and I went along with it. You know what is hilarious? Robin is wearing something similar, but does he get the 'Sir Pantaloon' treatment? Heck no!" Beast Boy snorted.

"Well he is the guy who can tell us to give him twenty laps on demand." Raven said.

"True." Beast Boy said.

For a moment they stared at the waterfall fountain together, neither on knowing what to say. Beast Boy racked his brain for something, anything, intelligent to say. His mind wandered back to the day Jinx had recited those Poe poems to him, and one verse from one of the poems seemed to leap back into his head. Without knowing what he was doing he started reciting it:

"But our love it was stronger by far than the love  
Of those who were older than we —  
Of many far wiser than we —  
And neither the angels in heaven above,  
Nor the demons down under the sea,  
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul  
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee"

Raven blinked and stared at him for a few moments. "Where did you hear that?"

Beast Boy shrugged, now a bit embarrassed. "Jinx." He said. "She told me a few of them a while back. I kind of like them. It's really funny, because I never thought I would like poetry."

"You heard that poem once and you're reciting it? Beast Boy…that's amazing!"

"I can't remember all of it, just that part." Beast Boy shrugged. "Still, it's very pretty."

Raven snorted "I suppose…until you consider the possibility that it ends in necrophilia."

"Er…what?"

Raven sighed. "Just listen to the last few lines, okay?

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side  
Of my darling — my darling — my life and my bride,  
In her sepulchre there by the sea,  
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

What does that sound like to you, Beast Boy?"

"Umm…sounds like…he went into her tomb and…ew." Beast Boy wrinkled his nose "That's pretty gross!"

"Yeah…but the thing about poetry like this is that there can be several different interpretations. For one thing he might just have died with her. Like at the end of Romeo and Juliet. Or it could have been completely symbolic, like their souls where always together or something cheesy like that…but seeing as how this is Poe we are talking about…"

"I see what you mean." Beast Boy said. Another long silence, then he chuckled "You know, knowing that still doesn't change anything."

"What?"

"Well, say the poem is about neca…whatever you called it. That still doesn't mean that it is any less beautiful. Things don't have to be light and cheerful to be beautiful, things can be dark and beautiful at the same time…" he was looking at her now, and the next few words popped out of their own accord: "like you."

Raven nearly fell off her bench. "What did you say?"

"Well…you're beautiful Rae."

"No I'm not." Raven whispered, now looking at her feet.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Beast Boy said, and Raven's heart sank even lower. Until he finished his sentence. "I meant to say gorgeous, stunning, wonderful, awesome, enchanting, radishing-"

For some reason that last word, such as it was, broke through Raven's depression like a knife. She had a feeling the word Beast Boy was looking for was ravishing, and change to radishing was so darn funny (not to mention the sudden mental image she had gotten of herself as a big radish) managed to accomplish what all of Beast Boy's dumb jokes had never done. Raven started laughing. It was actually something between a giggle and a chuckle, but it was still a laugh and Beast Boy heard it.

"HAH! I did it! You're laughing! Oh yeah! Go Beast Boy! Get funky…wait! What did I say that was so funny?"

"Radishing…you just compared me to a root vegetable." Raven snorted.

"Hey! Radishes are great veggies! Do you know how many vitamins are in a radish?" Beast Boy said. For some reason that made Raven laugh all the harder. It was strange, for someone who had said over an over again that Beast Boy was not funny she sure was laughing a lot. It was as if a dam of humor had broken inside her.

Raven finally managed to stop and noticed that Beast Boy had managed to slide closer to her. He slowly put an arm around her. Raven's first instinct was to shrug it off, but for some reason she didn't. It felt…nice there.

"Raven, you know I was not lying before? I really do think you're beautiful."

"Beast Boy…I…I'm not."

"Whoever told you that you were not is a liar." Beast Boy said. His face was coming closer to hers. "You know I'm not a liar, so why don't you believe me?'

"Beast Boy, the last person who told me that was a lying lizard in a book."

"You want to know something? I've heard that the best lies are the ones with a grain of truth in them. I think they are right, because that lizard was right about one thing. He was right to call you beautiful."

He was not sure who started it, who had closed that last few inches between them. Perhaps they both did. All he knew was that they were both close enough to do IT.

And then…

* * *

About five minutes later Jinx came walking down the path (for almost the exact same reason that Raven had minus the depressing thoughts) when she heard some rather odd sounds coming from her left. Creeping through the trees she spied something she thought she would never see: Raven and Beast Boy on the ground making out like there was no tomorrow. Thankfully, at least in her opinion, they were both fully clothed and while there was a lot of lip locking going on over there neither of them seemed particularly inclined to…well…you know.

Smiling, Jinx crept back towards the party, glad that those two were finally going to stop with the romantic teenage angst garbage and do something. She too had managed to pick up the signals, and she hoped that this would end some of the weird tension around the group.

"Yo Jinx!" Cyborg walked up to her. "Have ya seen Raven? I can't find her anywhere."

"Sorry," Jinx grinned and pointed to where she had seen them."She and Beast Boy are busy."

"Huh? What kind of busy?"

"You know, busy."

"Ya mean…"

Jinx nodded. Cyborg's face split into a wide grin "Finally!" He said, and then he started sneaking off in to where Jinx had pointed.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To film this, it'll be great blackmail material!"

"Wait! Not even you are dumb enough to blackmail Raven!"

"Who said anything about Raven? I meant Beast Boy!" With that Cyborg snuck off into the bushes to record whatever was going on out there.

"Boys." Jinx shook her head. She turned just in time to see a flash of light appear at the main entrance (standard transportation for wizards, you get used to it after a while) and solidify into a very familiar old minotaur.

"Arucules!" Zarule bellowed from across the room. The king walked up to the old minotaur and grinned. Suprisigly, Zarule seemed friendlty towards the minotaur, evne though he had made it very clear he did not like the Temple or its priests. Jinx guessed that it was because Arucules was a warrior and a hero here. "Glad to see you! I don't suppose you brought anyone else with you?"

"No, but the General was supposed to be coming after me with some Warriors but you know how tricky it is to transport a bunch of people over such a distance." Arucules shrugged. "Is Raven here?"

Zarule's eyes narrowed, his former friendly attitude replaced with sudden hostility. "Why?"

"She was supposed to heading here to warn you about the invasion. I would have thought she arrived here before me…unless she has and you just are not telling me about it."

"You can't say I've done anything wrong here, Makhar. She came to me!"

"Good, I'm glad you finally got to meet her! Honestly, you don't really think all of us believe something just because the Matron decrees it, do you?"

Zarule snorted "I apologize, old friend…I just…you know."

"I understand. So she is here then?"

"Yes…not sure where."

"Oh, well. I'll talk to her later then."

Jinx edged away from earshot. She was getting bored with the conversation, and her mind had wandered to other things. It was clear to her that Arucules and Zarule knew each other from somewhere, but where? Her mind wandered as she walked around the room, and her eyes landed on a certain pair of paintings, the same ones that Raven and Cyborg had seen. She cocked her head and surveyed the two pieces of artwork.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Jinx turned her head and looked up at a smallish adult Nazlar male. Small for a Nazlar, I mean.

"I guess." Jinx said.

"You like art?"

"Not really." Jinx said. "But…Is it just me or is that the same sea serpent?"

The Nazlar chuckled. "Indeed it is. That is Gorlock, the serpent who was once imprisoned by Trigon. The one that fought Azar centuries ago. This-" the man pointed to the one that depicted the possessed serpent "is Gorlock while battling Azar and this other one depicts his revenge on the Order of Scathe after he was freed."

"What? I thought the only way to get rid of Trigon was to kill his host?"

"No, it is not. The Temple likes to say it is, for reasons I never understood. Not many know the true story, because people here really like to contradict the Temple, except a few races like mine and the orcs."

Jinx stared at the Nazlar. If this was true! She had to know more.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

The Nazlar nodded "Many belve that Azar slew Gorlock that day, but she did not. At the very end of the battle, when Azar was dying of her wounds, she recited a spell over her claws. What the Temple calls her killing thrust to Gorlock's chest was not meant to slay, but to push out the evil inside of him. Her claws, instead of piercing him, passed through him and exorcised Trigon from his body. Azar then recited yet another spell, a spell that trapped Trigon in his prison. Then Azar died and created Azarath, but Gorlock survived. He vowed revenge on the Order of Scathe and spent a good many centuries tracking them down and exterminating them, with some help in the later years from a gullible Christian group. Afterwards he returned to the Earth lake that bore him to spend the rest of his life in solitude.

"So, he's still alive? And on Earth?"

"Indeed, you may have even heard of him, but by a different name…I believe they now call him the Loch Ness Monster."

* * *

"Beast Boy?"

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Did…you mean to do that?"

"Kiss you? Of course I did!"

"…what about Terra?"

"Terra who?" Beast Boy looked confused for a moment. For one thing he was still trying to figure out how they had gone from sitting on a bench to on the ground with him on top of her (and even though his mind was flitting to very naughty thoughts he was determined to control those animal instincts. He was NOT going to ruin this for himself!)

Raven rolled her eyes "Blonde hair, blue eyes, controls dirt? Think Beast Boy."

"Oh, that Terra." Beast Boy sighed and rolled off Raven with a sigh. Now they were lying in the grass side by side. VERY side by side. "We're over, Rae. Have been for a while, but I was just too dumb to see it. The last time I saw her she dumped me like a sack of old potatoes. She even pretended that she was a different person in order to get me to go away! Like I wouldn't know her scent!"

"I'm sorry Beast Boy." Raven said, even though a part of her was jumping in glee (and her name was Love) she still felt bad for Beast Boy. Inside her mind Love started pumping her fist and hissing "_YESSSSSSSSS. Terra's loss is our gain!!!"_

"Don't be, I've accepted the fact that she doesn't like me anymore." He looked at Raven and grinned "Besides, I found someone a whole lot better!"

Raven blushed "Really?"

"Heck yeah! Ya want me to list the ways." He held up his hand and started counting of "You're, smart, cool, and I still say you are beautiful! Not to mention the fact that you've never lied to the team and betrayed them! With Terra…I always wondered how much of our thing was based on her efforts to betray the team and how much was real. I think…I really believe she was using me, Rae. Why else would she want me to get away from her so badly! I know you would never betray me, Raven."

"Maybe…" Raven hesitated "Maybe she really did lose her memory?"

"Dude! You know what the last thing she said to me was? 'Things change, Beast Boy.'" His voice had taken on a mocking tone "'The girl you want me to be is just a memory.' Don't you realize what she meant? She did remember! She just wanted me to leave her alone so she could go on playing the good little schoolgirl! After all I tried to do for her! After all we went through she just shoves me away! I'm not that dumb, Raven! I can take a hint! She hates me, and…I don't care anymore!"

A long silence ensued as they both stared at the stars for a few moments. A question lingered in Raven's mind and eventually she just could not take it anymore.

"Did I…kiss as well as she did?"

Beast Boy snorted "Dude, she never kissed me!"

"So…was I?"

"Yep…."

Anohter pause, then:

"Did you ever…you know, with Malchior?"

"He was made out of paper, Beast Boy. I couldn't."

"Huh…I see…subject change?"

"Yes, please." Raven said. Her eyes fell on Beast Boy's hands, which were gloved. Only insdead of his usual grey gloves these were dressy white satin gloves.

"I hope I'm not treading into anymore painful ground, but…why are you still wearing gloves?"

"They look kinda dorky, don't they…" Beast Boy said. He looked at his hands and sighed. Well…he supposed it was okay to show her. She wouldn't laugh or think he was a dangerous freak…He slowly removed the gloves. Raven stared at his hands. At first she thought they were normal (but green) until he flexed them, revealing sharp looking black claws on the end of each fingertip.

"I suppose I should have expected that, seeing as you have pointed ears and fangs." She said. To Beast Boy's relief she did not sound scared or disgusted, in fact she sounded nonchalant.

"You don't think…they're freaky?"

"No." Raven shook her head.

Beast Boy grinned. "You know…it's getting late." He jumped up on his feet and helped Raven up as well. Then he extended his elbow in an uncharacteristically gentleman like way and said "Shall I escort you, Madame?"

Raven chuckled again, and Beast Boy's heart did a flip flop. She snaked her own arm through his and the started towards their room, taking a few short cuts to avoid the rest of the party.

When the other's got back to the room they found an odd sight. Beast Boy was lying down on a bed completely sacked out, while he himself was being used as a bed by a soundly sleeping Raven. It was a good thing that Robin managed to keep Starfire's squeals of joy from becoming to loud, or she might have woken the pair up. Quietly as they could the rest of the team got ready for bed themselves and soon the room was filled with contented snoring.

* * *

Somewhere very close by a pool of water displayed the scene like a miniature aqua-tv. It was smashed moments later by a huge dark-furred hand.

"HOW COULD SHE! THAT WICKED LITTLE WHORE! HOW DARE SHE KISS A SCRAWNY GREEN FULLBLOOD WITH ALL THE BRAINS OF A LIGHTNING BUG! I'LL SHOW HER! I'LL SHOW BOTH OF THEM! THAT GREEN PILE OF SLIME IS DEAD! DEAD! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!" Sanath's voice suddenly went from screaming to a gentle whisper, but the evil and menace in that whisper seemed far worse than the rage "And if she tries to stop me…I'll kill her too!"


	32. Chapter 32

An Author's note: Some references to the episode Betrayel will be here. I do not own any part of the Teen Titans…unfortunately.

And thanks for reviewing, FireDitto!

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One

Morning After

Cyborg decided to be a nice guy the next morning. He did not mock either Raven or Beast Boy when they woke up, or even during breakfast. He had planned to launch his verbal assault on Beast Boy as soon as Raven had left the room. He figured he start by asking Beast Boy how much he had liked being a pillow for the night. Cyborg had thought that the two of them were rather cute last night, and he had a nice picture of the scene in his personal built in camera (perfect for blackmail, taunting and other forms of fun). He had no intention of pranking Raven, the girl simply had no sense of humor…at least not the kind that Cyborg had, and he did not want to risk life and circuit. Besides, Beast Boy was simply more fun.

However, Cyborg's sweet plans of Grass Stain Torture were rudely interrupted by a horrendous roaring that echoed from tower to tower.

"What the-"he bellowed as he shot up from where he was sitting. It sounded like the entire Nazlar nation was screaming at once.

In fact that was exactly what was happening. When Cyborg stuck his head out the door to find out what in the world was going on he discovered several Nazlar running around…well screaming was not really the word for it. Screaming suggests panic, and these guys, while loud, where certainly not panicking.

"What's going on?" he shouted.

"The monsters are coming!" one of the Nazlar replied as he charged in the opposite direction. "You might want to go talk to the king!" he said over his shoulder.

"Oh great." Cyborg muttered.

* * *

Although to the Titans the whole thing looked like chaos it was actually pretty darned organized. Apparently the whole running around and roaring thing was a kind of Nazlar version of rabbits thumping on the ground when they see a predator, although this was a call to arms, not a duck and cover announcement. The Titans found the king easily. He was in a room in the castle that looked like it was especially designed for the purpose of war, seeing as how it had a huge map of the surrounding lands on a big table in the middle of the place with markers indicating where the "Uglies" were.

The king was not the only one in the room; Kzaer was there as well as Nakla, the heir. There was also a rather large looking green…person with an almost boar like face (tusks and all) who the Titans had never seen before. The other two people, however, where familiar: Arucules and the General. Lightflight was peeking through the window.

"Wow," Raven smirked at the General "You're here. That must mean they actually made a decision in less than a years time. I'm shocked."

"I know, the moon must be blue today, even though we can't see it." The General replied. "You just wait; I bet when it rises tonight it will be quite a lovely shade."

"How does it look out there?" Robin asked as he approached the table. He hoped that no one would object to his right to be there, and thankfully no one did. Whether or not it was because they kind of knew about the Titans from stories from Earth or whether it was because of Robin's actions yesterday no one could tell. Only the green guy gave him an odd look, but then he didn't know anything about Robin and probably would not have cared either way.

Zarule gestured at the green guy "Robin, this is Marlgun of the orcs. Marlgun this is Robin, leader of the Teen Titans and my cousin by adoption."

Marlgun gave Robin an odd look "Hmmm, Titans, the ancient gods of the Greeks. Interesting name. Never really liked the Greeks, myself. My kind is more in tune with the Norse."

Robin decided to ignore that. Instead of being upset he just offered to shake the big dude's hand. The orc did not seem to have a problem with this, but it was obvious from the way he looked that this was not how his kind greeted each other.

"We do have a bit of a problem here." Zarule said, turning everyone's attention back to the map. "Technically the enemy is not that abundant in numbers," he indicated the little red scraps of paper that obviously represented the enemy. It was true. There were not that many there "normally this would not be a problem, except for this." Zarule tapped his finger right in the middle of a mark on the map in the shape of a claw mark, the Scratch. "I just got word from some scouts that say there is some sort of portal here, and the monsters are defiantly coming through. If it is true that they can be reborn after they are killed then that means they have an unlimited supply of reinforcements to throw at us even if we kill this entire bunch gathered here."

"We definitely need to take it out." Marlgun growled. "Unfortunately we orcs can't do it. You know how we get in battle. We're Berserkers," he said when he caught Robin's confused look "just don't have the attention span for something like that. Get us around the smell of blood and we go crazy. Can't think of anything else but battle."

"I can get there fast and easy." Lightflight said confidently "And I can probably take it out faster than any of you."

"What about the big one?" Raven said "I remember that Malachi mentioned that there is always a big monster guarding the portal."

"How big?" Arucules said.

"She said about as big as a 747 airplane. So pretty big."

"Shouldn't be a problem, I am a dragon after all." Lightflight said with a hint of arrogance.

"Don't be a fool!" Arucules snarled "You have never fought before, at least not in a real fight! If anyone should be taking that creature on it is me!"

"How much do you think you would be? A mouthful or half?" the dragon said condescendingly.

"Now look here you big alligator purse-!" Arucules bellowed, but Robin cut him off.

"Why don't you both go? In fact, maybe my team should go too. It sounds like we need this thing down as soon as possible. Wouldn't it be smarter to have some of us attacking the big one while the others destroy the portal?" That managed to shut them up. Neither looked pleased with this, but neither could they come up with a good argument against the plan.

Privately, Robin had been searching for a way to get out of battlefield action. He had not designed the Titans to be a war unit. They were protectors and that was what they were supposed to be. He had not forgotten the near disaster that had been the war with the Brotherhood of Evil, and he was determined to keep his team out of fighting another war. He knew that was nearly impossible here, but that did not mean he could not try!

"Good idea, I was wondering where I was going to put you anyway. Now I don't have to wonder anymore." Zarule said in a satisfied tone. "Now as for the rest of you…"

* * *

About an hour or so later the Titans and the three Azarathians that had journeyed with them where riding towards the Scratch with Lightflight soaring overhead and Arucules following on foot (apparently minotaur do not believe in four legged transportation. The plan, such as it was, was simple: Ride into the Scratch, take down the portal and most importantly try not to die.

Yeah, simple.

Oh, and did I mention they were being watched? Three guess on whom it was and the first two do not count.

"Man, can you say too quiet?" Cyborg muttered as they entered the middle 'claw mark".

"Great, you just cursed us!" Jinx growled "Nice going metal head!"

At that precise moment a million pairs of wings preformed the natural function of millions of pairs of wings: they blotted out the sun. It seemed that the Uglies could detect dangers to their portal, and like bees they were now swarming towards the Titans.

"See! He cursed us!" Jinx pointed at the monster swarm for emphasis. The others were so distracted that they did not notice the black furred blur until it was too late. Leaping out from behind a rock Sanath tackled Beast Boy from his night horse. Before the Titans could aid their friend Sanath produced a red rock from somewhere and pressed it. They vanished in a flash of red light.

Raven looked around frantically, and saw a similar flash appear on a tall plateau in the distance on the other side of the Scratch, a landmark commonly called Broken Nail. She wheeled Mithrah around and kicked him into a gallop.

"RAVEN!" Robin bellowed, at first wanting to tell her to come back. But then he realized that she would never obey that order, and something he had learned was that things got…awkward if a leader told his team to do something they know good and well that person is not going to do.

So instead of order her back he said "Good luck."

She nodded and galloped off. A strange urge came over Robin. For some odd reason he wanted to follow her. He suddenly realized that it was the familiar thing. It was telling him he had a duty to stand by his wizard, even though intellectually he knew his first duty should lay with his team. He shoved the urge away and led the others deeper into the Scratch, knowing it was the right thing to do.

* * *

Beast Boy fell to the ground then jumped to avoid the punch aimed at his back. He looked around and found himself on a big rock with only Sanath for company.

Just great.

"You little monster." Sanath growled "I'll show you,"

It occurred to Beast Boy that he could just fly off and leave this wacko here…but something stopped him. Maybe it was pride, or anger, or just an animal instinct that told him to fight for his potential mate. Whatever it was, Beast Boy's reply was not a hawk dive out of there, but a tiger's lunge.

The voices told Sanath that this green thing must die, that it needed to suffer and be destroyed and he obeyed the voices. The told he that the green thing was like his own father and like the human who had abused him. They told them it would condemn poor little Raven to a life of suffering and horror, and that they only way to prevent this was to fight and kill it.

He listened to the voices.

Except for the ones that screamed that this was wrong.

* * *

Mithrah was a very fast horse.

But not fast enough.

It seemed to Raven that the stupid rock was no closer to her than it had been ten miles back. She had a feeling that was an illusion, but it was a darn convincing one. She was riding over the top of the huge cliffs of the Scratch, and those cliffs were pretty darn rocky and steep. What was worse, the Uglies were attacking her as well. They were dive-bombing her at an alarming rate, and it was all she could do to stay on her horse.

In the end, however, they did knock her off the horse; they knocked the entire horse off a cliff.

One of the nasty things dived straight for Mithrah and collided with the huge animal. For once in his life he slipped. His hooves briefly scraped against the rocks as he slipped off the side of the cliff and fell backwards.

Somehow Mithrah managed to twist around in midair so that his head pointed downwards. Raven got a really nice view of the ground rushing up to her. She had never been afraid of heights…but then again she was able to fly…if she had her powers. Now she had no way to save herself. Ironic.

Something, an unknown instinct, stirred within Mithrah. It was the same instinct that told baby birds when it was time to leave the nest and fly for the first time. It was as old as his species, and as natural as eating or fighting. It told him that all he had to do was open his wings and fly.

Right before he hit the ground he opened his wings and gave a several mighty flaps. His hoofs literally stopped an inch from the dirt. Without any prompting from Raven he climbed the air currents to the sky…which was still full of Uglies.

Several brown and gold streaks where speeding towards them, and before Mithrah could reengage the enemy a flight of very pissed off griffins dove and attacked the Uglies. Apparently they had figured out who had really killed their young, and they were taking vengeance. Raven urged Mithrah to head for Broken Nail, mostly to help Beast Boy…but she also really did not want to reintroduce herself to irate griffins.

Fortunately they seemed to have no interest in her anymore and Raven gratefully urged Mithrah to fly. She could already see two shapes, one green and one dark.

She hoped that Beast Boy was not dumb enough to die, she was starting to get used the idea of a boyfriend.

* * *

A green claw whizzed through the air and slashed a black furred shoulder and cut it almost to the bone. A quick shift later and a bull's horns tried their best to gore and spit open a stomach. The opponent's counterblows where just as violent: Sanath's own claws slashed at Beast Boy's face, and his big hooves were used to try and stamp on his head.

Normally Beast Boy was not this savage, but something about this encounter was bringing back a really bad memory. A memory of a dark carnival and a man too cowardly to show his face.

And it really did not help when, in a break in the fighting, Sanath said "You're not worthy to be hers…you're not worthy of being anything to her…except maybe a pet."

Memories came rushing back, none of them good. The memory of a blonde traitor and her master, and what he had said about Beast Boy:

_Perhaps she wanted to keep you as a pet._

Beast Boy roared and shifted to bear. He attacked Sanath, voices of his own now filling his ears.

_You mean she didn't tell you? I thought you two were friends._

Claws, teeth and fists. That's all Beast Boy could see now except for red.

_You think you know her. You know nothing. She never even liked you._

Blood…blood was flowing…whose blood? He didn't know.

_She's not your friend. She's my apprentice._

Who was that in front of him, again? Slade? Sanath?

Terra?

_The girl you knew was merely an illusion. A fantasy._

No! Raven was not Terra! Raven was not an illusion! Horns locked with horns and caught.

_Tonight her orders were to strike. But I guess she took pity on you. Perhaps she wanted to keep you as a pet._

Pet…No! He was nobodies pet! He was going to prove it! He shoved harder on the horns, but he was the one flung back.

Another voice: _Beast Boy...it's the truth._

Claws at his throat. Big ones. Big black ones. He was on the ground staring into the eyes of a madman.

_Terra...why?_

_Because you could never give her what she needs._

An electrical bolt streaked through the sky. It struck Sanath on the chest. He released Beast Boy and flew backwards. Beast Boy felt himself being picked up by a very pissed looking Raven. Mithrah stood between his mother and this crazy man, snorting aggressively.

"Why didn't you fly away!? Idiot!"

"Ummm…Don't know?" Beast Boy replied.

"STEP AWAY FROM HIM SO I CAN KILL HIM!" Sanath bellowed.

"Sanath, listen to me." Raven walked towards her old friend, hoping to reawaken his good side. She strode past Mithrah. "You need help. I can help you. Please just come with me. It doesn't have to be this way."

At first it looked as if Sanath was going to do it. For a moment his eyes softened and his face relaxed, but then it wrinkled in fury again and he drove his claws into Raven's stomach.

Mithrah screamed and attacked, but Sanath grabbed the night horse by the neck and tossed him away like he was nothing.

Something inside of Beast Boy snapped. He was overcome with rage and anger, but he knew enough not to become the Beast. It was clear that he was no match for Sanath's raw strength, so for once he would have to use his brain. He could not match Sanath's strength, but maybe he could use an animal that did not rely on strength?

He did not believe he would ever do this, but he knew he could. He had been a snake before, but always a constrictor or something like that. He was unused to the sensation of venom sacks in his mouth or the strange feeling in his tail.

A scary noise echoed through the canyon. A noise guaranteed to send chills through anyone's spine. Heck it sent chills through Beast Boy's and it came from him.

_Rattle-rattle-rattle_

Azarath had no species quite like Crotalus adamanteus, aka the eastern diamond-backed rattlesnake. Perhaps that is why Sanath just stared at the green creature at his feet with a clear are-you-kidding-me look. So he was unprepared when the serpent at his feet struck with unbelievable speed and bit him on the leg, pumping deadly venom into his blood.

Sanath did not expect it to hurt as much as it did. He reeled backwards, surprised. He gripped the wound and stared as it bleed.

Beast Boy shifted from snake to human and checked Raven. She was bleeding, but the wounds where not as bad as they could have been.

Sanath roared in anger, and Beast Boy looked up to see him charging at them! Impossible! How could he shake off the venom that easily! Thankfully, Beast Boy did not stick around. He shifted to pterodactyl and lifted Raven high in the air.

Sanath's momentum carried him over the edge. Quickly Beast Boy set Raven down and ran to the edge. He looked over, his heart in his throat. Now that the anger had passed he was not so eager to kill, and he was now feeling terribly guilty. How could he have done that! He poisoned someone!

Sanath had landed on a cliff, semi-unconscious. Slowly and carefully Beast Boy slid down the wall of the canyon and reached out for Sanath.

"Come on, dude! Grab my hand!"

Sanath meet Beast Boy's eyes. The madness was gone again, replaced with terrible sadness "I can't. They'll win again. I can't stop them. I can't."

"Dude, of course you can! Just let us help you!"

"No…no…I killed one friend…I would do it again…"

"Dude! You can win against them! Just try!"

"I suppose…I could…but not in the way…you think…If I go…so do they."

With that Sanath rolled. He rolled right off the cliff.

Beast Boy shifted to pterodactyl. He dove, trying to rescue the fool. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Raven had mounted Mithrah as was diving as well.

They were too late.

Raven landed and jumped from Mithrah's saddle and ran to her old friend's still body. He was still alive…barely.

"Raven…I'm so sorry…" he muttered.

"You idiot! I could have helped you! We could have helped you! Why?"

"Better this way…you…don't blame yourself…You! Beast Boy!" Sanath looked over at the stricken teen "You better…take good care of her….I swear I'll haunt you if you do not…Raven…I love you."

"NO! You can't! You stupid…please don't!" Tears flowed freely from Raven's eyes as Sanath died, and she did not even try to keep them in.

"Er… Raven?" Beast Boy said, sounding scared "We've got company."

Raven looked up to see several hundred Uglies staring at the two, drool dripping from their horrible mouths.

An instant later Raven and Beast Boy's world was filled with stained, disgusting teeth.

* * *

A/N: So…how was Sanath's death? Good? Bad? Overly dramatic? Not dramatic enough? Lame? Please tell me! 


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Two

The Big and Ugly

* * *

Winterwing was a wolf divided.

He knew that Raven was going off to face Sanath, and the big winged wolf wanted to go with her. Not for her sake, but to avenge his fallen wizard. However, despite his best efforts to the contrary, Winterwing had started to identify with these humans, and a wolf was by nature a pack creature. Even flying ones had the natural instincts of a pack animal. The pack needed him; therefore he must go with them. He could no more deny this instinct than he could swim through the earth like the sea. Not to mention the fact that Beast Boy was already there…fighting Sanath for Raven. It was something an animal could understand, a battle to win a female, and even though they all would deny it and come up with excuses (as humans often will), Winterwing could tell what this was truly about, and that was something he could not interfere with. However strong his need to rip out Sanath's throat his nature and instincts told him that this would be a wrong thing to do. He hated it, and wanted nothing more than to ignore his instincts.

Had he been human he would have. Had he been a man he would have turned right around and followed Raven into battle and made sure that he took down that treacherous slug Sanath. He would have avenged that wonderful boy who had taught him that not all humans where smelly apes with barely a brain in their thick skulls (though Winterwing still wondered about many). But a wolf is not like a human, no matter how much Winterwing wanted to go he knew he could not. So he followed the Titans, prepared to fight with them.

He only hoped Sanath would die, so he could give his grave a salute from his left hind leg.

He looked up at the sky, which had quickly become cloud covered. He did not like those clouds. They felt bad and wrong, not at all like normal clouds. He felt that the monsters had somehow produced them. It would make sense if they did, seeing as how they could not stand direct sunlight.

Winterwing's thoughts where interpreted by a sudden attack of Uglies. They dropped down on the group screeching and howling hungrily. Lightflight, who was soaring above them, scorched as many as he could from the sky. He tried not to lower his flame to much. He was afraid he might fry his companions. Still, the dragon's efforts thinned the Ugly ranks and gave the Titans an easier time of it.

"Don't stop to fight!" Robin bellowed. "Just get to the portal. We can take care of them after it is destroyed!"

Winterwing growled and leaped over a group of Uglies, slashing with his fangs as he went. He kept his wings folded tightly along his back to prevent them from getting torn by the Uglies. He ducked and weaved and dodged. Occasionally he would get a grip on an Ugly throat and tear, but he never slowed down to do the job properly.

Lucky for the Titans the Uglies were strangely like sharks. Whenever one of them was badly wounded a group of its fellows would pounce and attempt to consume him. They were cannibals, and it was clear they did not care what they at as long as they ate. This greatly helped the Titans, but this also caused quite a bit of chaos, and it was hard for the team to keep track of each other in this swarm of horrible ugliness.

"There it is!" Robin bellowed. Winterwing looked and saw what appeared to be a kind of alter with your standard swirling mass of interdimensional swirling galactic looking stuff. You know what I mean. The previously mentioned ominous clouds where emanating from large stick like protrusions circling the edges of the thing.

"Ready! There should be a big one right about-"Robin said, but he was interrupted, right on cue, by the appearance of a large claw reaching out of the portal. Like a demented swimmer exiting a pool a huge Ugly emerged from the muck. About five seconds later the wind changed and the Titans where hit by the smell. Fourteen buses full of manure would have paled in comparison to the big Ugly's stench. It seemed to be caked with more muck then all the landfills in America. Every disgusting thing in the world, from cow dung to human blood to plain old mud covered it like a second skin. It was clear that this thing did not understand the meaning of the word "bath". The other Uglies fled to a safe distance, mainly to avoid getting stepped upon.

The giant Ugly spread its feces-dripping wings and leaned towards the Titans. It gave a chuckle, as if it were not at all impressed.

"When I sensed intruders I was sure the green-eyed dragon was coming for us, but instead I see a pack of morsels waiting to become my next meal." If halitosis could be an attack then this guy had mastered the art. Heck, you could see the remains of its last meal sticking in its teeth and decaying. Winterwing tried not to throw up. "I had hoped to meet her in combat, but I suppose eating you will have to do."

"What are you yammering about?" Robin growled. Normally he would not have asked, but the words "green-eyed dragon" had caught his ear. Hadn't Raven mentioned that the dragon in her dreams had green eyes?

"You don't know her? She is the bane of my people and our most dedicated enemy. Her allies call her Malachi. Stupid little dragonbitch is always butting her snout where it does not belong. We would have taken over much more territory if she where dead."

"What do you mean?" Arcktos growled and quite literally too.

"What do you think I mean little hors d'oeuvre? What do you think my kind are here for? Do you really think we are here to help that fool, Sanath?" The creature's grin was so wide its teeth would have gleamed in the sunlight, had they been clean enough to shine or if there had been sunlight. "We care not for that fools cause. When we are done with his help we will sweep over this land. We will consume every living thing we see, and what we cannot eat will destroy. What we cannot destroy we will spoil, until this entire world is nothing but a useless lifeless lump in the cosmos."

Starfire gasped "Why would you do such a horrible thing to this beautiful land?"

"That is what we were made for, little lunch." The Uglier replied. "We are Destruction and we are Death. We are Plague and Pestilence. The Four Horsemen dwell within us, and we are one with them. We bring the end to everything and everyone, and all will fall before us. None save the green-eyed dragon has defeated us, and no one else can."

"We've dealt with your kind before." Robin snarled "We defeated Trigon-"

The monster threw back his head and laughed "TRIGON! Some worthless little spirit demon?! The source of all evil he calls himself, but he is the least of all Demon Lords! Fool! Trigon is but one beast! We are as Legion, for we are many and everlasting! Defeat one of us and it will just be reborn again! How can you possibly hope to stand against us?"

Now, although Lightflight was indeed a novice when it came to battle, he did realize the value of a sneak attack. While the villain was rambling on, as they will do, the big dragon had circled high in the air. Floating behind the monster he aimed and dove. Just as the last word left the Uglies mouth Lightflight slammed into the monster. Several tons of pissed off dragon is not something you can ignore.

Lightflight's claws tore into the big Uglie's back. He breathed fire at the creature's neck in an effort to finish the creature quickly. The creature roared and leaped backwards. At first the Titans thought the thing was startled, but then it slammed its back against the wall, with Lightflight still attached. It slammed Lightflight into the wall repeatedly, shaking the earth as it went.

Lightflight had never once in his life battled anything bigger than a temperamental night horse. He was not a fighter, and although dragons are indeed very powerful creatures all that power amounts to nothing if you do not know how to use it. The Ugly, on the other had, knew how to fight. It had been born fighting, killing and eating its nest mates moments after it was born. You don't grow to be a big Ugly by being weak, because the weak Uglies where always eaten by their stronger brothers. The big one knew much more about battle then Lightflight, and it was proving it.

Somehow Lightflight managed to scramble away from the wall. He launched himself into the air with three mighty flaps. On the third he turned around and prepared to face it. The big Ugly soared upwards as well and smashed into Lightflight, sending both of them through the air. Lightflight took a deep breath and let loose with fire in the monster's face. The creature replied with a breath of greenish gas that emitted from its mouth that chocked Lightflight's throat and clogged his nostrils.

While Lightflight sputtered and hacked the Ugly tore at his wings and sides. They were just above the canyons in the air, blood and dirty fur and scales raining down on the Titans. At first they could only stare at the scene above them, until finally Robin snapped out of it and remember what they were supposed to be doing.

"We've got to help him!" Robin took out a pair of exploding disks and prepared to throw, but Arucules put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll take care of it; you take care of the portal." The big minotaur was staring at the big Ugly with a strange look in his eyes. Robin just could not place it, but maybe that was because minotaur facial expressions are a little strange. Comes from having a bovine head.

Robin thought about objecting, but Arucules did have a point. If they did not take that portal down and quickly then more monsters would be born. It needed to be taken down, and it needed to be taken down now.

So when Arucules flew (apparently he had the same powers of flight that Raven did) upwards to the fighting giants, Robin did not say anything. He turned his attention to the portal.

Up close the thing looked like a giant black stone tree trunk with a swirling mass in the middle. Its "roots", which for some reason looked a lot like pipes, stretched from the thing and up the walls of the cliff. It was black in color and it oozed red…stuff. It looked diseased and disgusting, kind of like the Uglies themselves.

The Titans aimed their various weapons at the thing. Sonic cannons, starbolts, pink hexbolts, explosive disks and plain old arrows shot towards the thing but did no damage at all. Their combined powers did not even scratch the thing.

Cyborg squinted at thing for a second then ran up to it.

"What have you found?" Robin asked.

Cyborg ran his hands over the thing and then pressed a certain spot down. A panel fell to the ground revealing what looked like circuitry, except for the fact that the circuits had glittering gemstones imbedded in strange patterns and hooked into the wires. Cyborg scrutinized the thing, and then grunted in surprise.

"This is weird. It looks like some sort of machinery, but I can't figure out the power source. This thing shouldn't be able to run." He said.

"It looks like A First Dragon design. See these gems." Winterwing indicated a gem with a paw. "This would be the power source you are looking for. Both magic and technology combined, like what the First Dragons did. Needs both magic things and science things to work it."

"Great, wonderful. Now how do we smash it?" Jinx growled.

"Best way is to be like the Dragons. Combine a power of magic and a power of science to the insides and it will blow up." Winterwing growled. "But we will need a lot of power to do it."

"Right! Jinx, give me a hand!" Cyborg aimed his sonic cannon and fired at the exposed circuitry. Jinx followed in suit. The object started to shake and tremble, but it did not give.

"We need more power!" Robin growled.

"Starfire, you are an alien, correct?" Winterwing asked. Starfire nodded "You can provide more science power…but we still need some magical power."

Robin gritted his teeth. If only Raven was here with her powers!

Winterwing turned to Robin and stared at him with his golden wolf eyes. Being stared at by a wolf is a very interesting experience, and it can be rather unsettling.

"Prey-Bird…you are Raven's familiar. You can channel her powers. If you tap into her powers you can provide the magic."

"But she doesn't have her powers!" Robin said "And even if she did I don't know how to channel them! I barely know how they work!"

Winterwing snarled "Fool! You are connected to her soul! Her powers are a part of her soul! Even if the power is no longer in her body that does not mean that it is not still a part of her soul. You can still access it!"

"HOW!" Robin snarled.

"You don't know! How can you not! It is an instinct all familiars have the moment they connect with their wizards!" Winterwing stepped towards him "Search inside yourself and find the part that is connected to her. Follow it the source and find the power inside. Use it."

Robin closed his eyes and concentrated. He thought that, if he recalled the way Raven's mind felt when it had touched his. He tried to remember how it felt to wield her power against Trigon. He began to feel Raven's mind again, and through it her power. He followed that feeling, even though it was cold and dark and unsettling.

When he opened his eyes the others saw a white glow, the same one that was in Raven's eyes when she used her power, shinning beneath his mask. They looked at his hands they saw Raven's dark magic surrounding them. It was faint and kind of weak, but it was there.

Robin felt that he did not have much to work with here, whether that was because of his inexperience or because Raven's power was currently in the hands of a nutcase no one could tell. He seemed to concentrate for another second, and then Robin pointed a finger at the thing and shot the narrowest and concentrated beam he could. He hoped that he could get a little boost by concentrated the power he had. It was worth a shot.

Starfire faced the thing and sent a beam of starbolt energy towards it (even though she did not really understand how her being an alien equated into "science power"). She was soon followed by Cyborg and Jinx.

This time the tree thing not only shook, but it started cracking and crumbling. The red oozed started to flow even faster and harder, and Robin had the feeling he knew what it was.

It was not tomato juice; let's just put it that way.

A huge shadow appeared over the portal. The Titans looked up to see Lightflight being pushed through the air towards them by the big Ugly. Arucules was flying around the monster, shooting it with his horns at every opportunity like a humming bird mobbing a condor. They came crashing down on the portal, the big Ugly tearing at Lightflight's neck with its teeth.

Boulders were dropping from the cliffs. Arucules flew down towards the Uglie's tail. He grabbed it and stretched it out. He then shot his horn beams in a place where the sun did not shine.

No one, not even a monster, can ignore an attack up its anus. The creature roared, released Lightflight and turned to Arucules, who still had the Ugly by the tail. The Ugly and the minotaur stared at each other for a few moments. Both gazes could have melted steel.

Arucules knew that the place was coming down on their ears. He bellowed "You kids get out of here. You too, gator purse!"

Lightflight, who was in no position to argue, quickly took flight. The Titans, however, wanted to stick around. They where not in the habit of abandoning allies.

"Arucules! It's coming down!" Robin bellowed. "Let's get out of here!"

"I can handle this! Get moving!" the minotaur was still focused on his foe.

"But-"

"GIT!" the old warrior finally tore his eyes away from the big Ugly and shot his horn beams towards the Titans, who finally took the hint.

The big Ugly took this opportunity to wrench Arucules high into the air and swing him around. Arucules snarled and bit the creature on its tail tip and ripped off a good chunk of it. The Ugly breathed its green gas at the minotaur, but he simply launched himself from the tail towards the thing's head. Golden beams of Arucules' spirit energy shot from his hands like little blades, creating little puncture marks on the thing's face. Arucules shot over the beast's head and landed behind it, even though he had still managed to inhale some of that nasty smelling bad breath. He gathered energy into his hands and shot it with a ball of golden light. The Ugly turned, snapping and biting, but for a guy as old as Arucules the minotaur sure could move. He dodged most of them, until the boulder slammed onto his leg and crushed it. He had temporarily forgotten that they where surrounded by falling rocks, a mistake he would have never had made in the old days.

For a moment Arucules remembered that there had never been a senile Makhar, because the first onset of this disease was usually accompanied by the snap of a monster's jaws.

The big Ugly went in for the kill, but like Arucules it had forgotten the boulders, or perhaps it thought itself immune to them. Whatever the reason it failed to notice the big sharp one that fell from the sky like the wrath of some god (probably Zeus because it was a bit like a stalactite and vaguely thunderbolt shaped) and struck it through the neck. The creature ended falling an inch from Arucules' face, dead before it hit the ground.

Arucules struggled to free himself from his own boulder. He knew he could not die yet! _Raven does not know about it!_ He thought _I can't die now, or it dies with me! This world could end if it is not complete!_

Arucules freed himself from the rock and started to fly. He flew low to avoid the rocks that where still falling towards him. It seemed like the entire canyon was collapsing in on itself.

He had almost made it to the end. He could see the Titans now. They had managed to escape and they were giving the canyon considering looks, as if they were planning on coming back for him!

Stupid kids.

He almost made it. He was just ten feet from safety when the entire thing caved in. A boulder struck his left shoulder, then his right hip. Then three little ones slammed into his back and brought him down.

He was buried under a ton of rocks.

* * *

Winterwing howled as only a wolf can when he has lost a friend or packmate. A sound full of loneliness and pain. The big wolf bounded to where he had seen Arucules fall and started digging and moving rocks. He knew that Arucules was strong, but he was afraid that not even the powerful minotaur could survive this. He was soon joined by the others, who also started to dig. Lightflight, who was now felling very stupid and useless, landed awkwardly on his injured and bloody wings. He gingerly started to dig as well, making sure that if he did uncover Arucules that he would not hurt him with those sharp claws.

Just when they thought that the minotaur was lost they uncovered him.

He was alive.

But he might not be for long.

Arucules struggled to stay conscious, to stay alive. He could not die yet! He had to stay alive! At least long enough to see Raven again! He needed to tell her!

This thought was still echoing in his head as the darkness came and took him.

* * *

And what of the rest of the battle, the one between the combined forces of Nazlar, Warriors and orcs against the Ugly army?

Well, usually in stories like this one the Forces of Good are heavily outnumbered by the Forces of Darkness and have to rely on Our Heroes to save the day at the last minute. Fortunately for the Forces of Good that was not the case this time. The field was equally matched…until the portal went down. The cloud cover that was keeping the Uglies alive in the daytime went with the portal. The sun then shone nice and bright on the field and within minutes the Uglies where reduced to bubbling puddles of goo, and quite nasty goo too. All that was left where the few Halfbloods who where a part of Sanath's rebellion. These guys surrendered very quickly, mainly because of the fact that the orcs were the ones surrounding them.

Let's pause a moment to say this about orcs. They are very large and very muscular, like wrestlers on steroids, only orcs don't need chemical aids to be huge. They also have a tendency to go through enemies like fifty thousand masked maniacs with chainsaws. They also ride very big things that look like a combination of a rhinoceros and a wolf, very hairy and very mean (and no, these don't have fangs or claws. Don't need fangs or claws either. They have horns…Very. Big. Horns). Now, if you are looking at several hundred of these big green guys on their big hairy mounts with their big shiny axes looking at you like you are lunch, you might be very inclined to surrender as well.

Not to mention the fact that quickly coming up behind the orcs, it is very unwise to be in front of a berserk orc, where several pissed looking Nazlar helped. And the armored guys with the lances where very persuasive as well.

The Halfbloods surrendered. And that basically ended the battle. There where a few losses on both sides, but not that many. It was, in fact, the most anticlimactic battle in history.

If only more battles where like that.


	34. Chapter 34

An Author's Note (and a very sad one): Okay, I'm sorry I could not get this up sooner. You see, I'm kind of moving out of my house, and my life for the past month has been nothing but boxes, boxes and more boxes.

Plus, I am not sure if I can get the Internet at my new place, at least not at once, so this and my other story might have to be put on a temporary hiatus.

As soon as I figure out the Internet situation, I'll update.

But until then…you'll just have to wait.

Sorry.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three

Wrapping Up a Loose End or Two

It was a good thing that the Ugly army disintegrated when it did, or Raven and Beast Boy would have been in serious trouble.

As it was…well they still might be in trouble, but it was not quite as serious as it might have been.

Maybe.

The flock of griffins that had unwittingly aided Raven glared at the two Titans standing before them. Beast Boy hoped that this was only because an eagle's features cannot do anything but glare, but after the way they had been greeted last time he was not so sure.

Raven tightened her grip on her sword, obviously ready to go another round, even though she looked a bit like chopped hamburger. Heck, Beast Boy looked a bit like chopped hamburger as well. He could have sworn that the Uglies had wanted to play Tic-Tac-Toe on his chest from the way (and pattern) they had scratched it up.

The lead griffin stepped towards them and cocked his head "You really didn't have anything to do with our dead hatchlings…did you."

Raven gave him a weary look "I never touched them." she said.

"I see…sorry about that." The griffin, however, did not really sound that sorry at all.

Beast Boy suddenly found himself becoming furious. How dare they! They had attacked them for no reason and now-

But before he could vent his rage the griffins took to the sky without another word.

"Birdbrained jerks." Beast Boy growled.

"They're griffins." Raven shrugged.

"So!? Just because we are not the same species doesn't mean they have to be so…so…"

"Beast-" Raven started to say something, but then she staggered a little to the side.

Beast Boy managed to catch her before she fell. He winched bit as he looked at her. There was just so much blood he wondered how in the world she was managing to stand at all.

Thinking quickly he helped her over to Mithrah, who was snorting in a worried way.

"Hey boy, you think you can get her back to the castle?"

Mithrah snarled, but Beast Boy didn't think the snarl was addressed to him. Mithrah, who by now had figured out that flying was not so bad, took off. Beast Boy turned into a hawk and followed.

Beast Boy searched the ground below him. He was concerned about the others. He guessed they had taken the portal down, but who knew how many of them could be hurt or injured (he refused to think of the word "dead")?

Suddenly a certain alien princess came hurtling through the sky from….somewhere. She screeched to a halt in front of Mithrah, who whinnied in protest and reared in the air. Kinda funny to see, actually.

"Oh Raven! Beast Boy! You are both unharmed!" she squealed, and she might have tried to hug Raven except for the fact that Mithrah was giving her a death glare and sparking from the horns. "You must come quickly! It is Arucules! He is badly injured and we fear he is dying."

"What?" Raven's head shot up from where it had been on Mithrah's mane. "Come on, Mithrah, hurry."

The horse zipped away at a speed you would not expect from something that looked so ungainly in the air. Beast Boy screeched in protest. She should not be overexerting herself like this! He followed her as best he could.

She landed in the courtyard of the castle and started demanding to know where Arucules was. Beast Boy dove towards her, shifted back and gently grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?" she growled.

"You're hurt. I know I can't make you lie down and rest while your old teacher is hurt, but I'm not going to let you walk around like this either. Not without help."

"You're injured to."

"Yeah…so what?"

Raven tried to glare at him some more, but she felt that she did not have time to sit her arguing with him. Besides, she really was tired. They followed Starfire into the castle.

* * *

"Good…you're here." Arucules said in an unnaturally quite voice. Let's face it, minotaur voices where meant to boom, not whisper. "I need to speak to you girl, alone."

He did not look good at all. The sharp rocks had sliced into his skin so badly that his fur was stained red. His once long, sharp horns were broken and cracked, which was bad because all minotaurs took good care of their horns as a rule. He was wheezing and gasping as he talked, and it was pretty clear to Raven that…well, you know.

She glared at the other Titans, who left. They were reluctant, but they left. Only Winterwing stuck around.

"Didn't I say alone, fur ball?" Arucules growled. Apparently, life threatening injuries would not prevent him from being a jerk.

"No, I'm staying with you." The wolf growled.

"Fine, suit yourself…I don't have much time…"

Raven opened her mouth, but Arucules cut her off. "Now don't start with all that 'don't talk' nonsense. I need to tell you something very important. I should have told you when Hadiran died…but I thought I had more time…Raven, you remember the duty of the Makhar?"

Raven gave him an odd look. "You taught me that years ago."

"No, I didn't. I merely taught you the parts that everyone knows. I never told you…the reason that we exist….the true purpose of our order."

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought you would not have to do it. I thought I would be around longer than this…but I've already done it twice, and it was twice too many."

"What-"

"Raven…the final duty…of the Makhar…is…"

* * *

"What is going on in there?" Robin growled, pacing around. He did not like this at all. None of them did.

"Don't worry man. It'll be fine." Cyborg said, trying to lighten the mood.

_No, it won't be._ Beast Boy thought. He felt so horrible for Raven. First she had lost one of her oldest friends, even though it can be argued that she lost Sanath long before this, and now she was going to lose her mentor! Beast Boy wanted so badly to go in there and help her somehow, at least comfort her a bit.

Suddenly the door opened. Raven emerged, followed by Winterwing. Raven had a shocked look in her eyes, and the big wolf beside her was trembling with ears laid back and teeth partly exposed.

"Raven, what-" Robin started.

"He's gone." She whispered, not looking at anything but the wall in front of her. Beast Boy would have bet money that she was not looking at it at all.

"What did he say?" Cyborg asked.

"Can't say." Raven said, still looking (or zoning) at the wall "Gotta…you know…go." She walked off, looking very dazed and confused.

The Titans looked at each other, wondering if they should be concerned. Was this a normal way to express grief? After a few moments Beast Boy followed Raven, hoping there was something he could do for her.

Robin focused on Winterwing, who looked like he had just been hit on the head with a board. "What went on in there?"

Winterwing's eyes snapped to Robin "Can't say." He growled.

"But-"

"For her ears and hers alone!" the wolf barked "You keep your ugly nose out of it. Never should have stayed with them…stupid thing to do."

"What?"

Winterwing snorted and started walking away. Before he disappeared down the corner he turned and glanced at them over his shoulder.

"Hope that you never need to find out what happened in there today." He growled, his wolfy voice filled with grief. "Azar help her."

* * *

"Raven?"

Raven turned and looked at Beast Boy. She was still very shocked by what Arucules had told her. It was bad enough that he was dead, but what he told her beforehand…she could barely comprehend it. He had followed her all the way to the castle gardens, and right now they were under that well kept, nice smelling orange tree that had provided a certain shape shifter with breakfast not to long ago.

"Look, Beast Boy I don't want to talk about it-"

"Then don't. You don't have to say anything, Raven."

"Then what are you here for?"

"I want to help you Rae."

"How?" her voice broke, tears she never wanted to shed threatening her with their presence "How can you help?"

He did the only thing he could do. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. Again she tensed up a bit. Beast Boy had a feeling that she might always tense up at another human's touch, but he did not mind. After all, she would eventually relax, and for some reason having her relax against him was worth a bit of initial tensing.

"You don't have to talk." Beast Boy said "Trust me, I know how you feel. I know what it's like to have two love ones die on the same day…my parents…look Rae, its okay to cry."

"But…"

"You feel better after you do. I know. Please, just trust me."

She didn't want to. It just…was not like her. It was embarrassing. It was shaming.

But for some reason, it was happening.

He just stood there, holding her as she started sobbing. It was just like what happened a few days before when she had lost her powers. Had it only been a few days? Just like before, except now she felt something other that grief and loss. She felt something growing in her heart for the green man holding her, something so strong and strange that it scared her silly, even though she wanted to keep it around for all eternity.

* * *

Jinx was heading to the one place she never thought she would go, the library. To get a (gasp) book.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked the Nazlar beside her, the same one who had given her the little history lesson at the ball last night.

"You wanted to know more about banishing Trigon, correct?" the Nazlar said "Well, we happen to have the only book on the subject, and I think it would be a very good idea to let you borrow it for a while. That is, if you are serious about freeing Flario?"

"Yeah, I am." Jinx said. She was being honest too. She knew for a fact that Raven did not really like to talk about her father, unlike Jinx herself. Jinx had always secretly yearned to have her own parent back, but she was not going to try anything stupid like bringing the dead back to life.

However, if the sea serpent had gotten free there was no reason to think that Flario could not be freed as well. It would not bring back her father, but having her father's partner and friend would be the next best thing.

"Now, you must promise to take good care of this." The Nazlar said, clutching the tome like it was a puppy.

"No problem." Jinx said taking the book in what she hoped was a respectful manner. It was entitled: _The Demon Lords: A History and Guide for Banishing the Most Powerful of Demons._

"You are welcome, and I hope you are successful." The Nazlar said. He then wandered off somewhere, probably to find some late night reading.

Jinx also settled down with her find. Opening the first page she began reading. Unfortunately, the book was rather long, and the first pages were more like a dull history book than anything else.

What was worse, it did not have an index.

* * *

"Winterwing?"

"What in the name of the Lion do you want now, Prey-Bird?" Winterwing snarled at Robin.

"Don't worry; it's not about…what you didn't want to talk about."

"Then what is it?"

"Well…you're a familiar…and so am I…so…" Robin trailed off.

"What?"

"Could you teach me to…you know…use Raven's powers?"

Winterwing snorted. "Humans! Why can't you just follow your instincts instead of making things hard for yourselves! I'll try to help you, but I don't see why you can't learn for yourself!"

"Thanks!" Robin said "Now, what do we start with!"

"Well…the easiest familiar ability is seeing through the eyes of your wizard. Try it now, Prey-Bird. Imagine seeing what Raven is seeing right now."

Robin concentrated. He remembered how it had felt to have Raven in his head, and he tried to imagine what it would be like to see through her eyes. Eventually a picture started coming through, though it was not what he expected.

What he saw was the very green face of Beast Boy, very close to his own face.

He also must have done something to alert Raven to this invasion, because the next thing he heard (in his head as well as in his ears) was a certain wizard bellowing "ROBIN!"

"Oh no." Winterwing moaned, he had heard the shout as well. "You're on your own, Prey-Bird!" the big wolf then leaped out the window and started flapping for all he was worth.

Now he could hear a very pissed of animal of some sort heading his direction. It was accompanied by a certain Halfblood's bellowing. It went something like this:

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, BOY BLUNDER!"

"GRRROAAAAAARRRRR!"

Robin groaned.

* * *

After a rather long discussion (which included much glaring on Raven's part and snarling on Beast Boy's) Raven finally agreed to help Robin "explore" the familiar abilities he did not know he had. Winterwing agreed to help as well, as soon as he had gotten back from the hills he had headed for.

Robin was a fast learner, or maybe those instincts Winterwing had mentioned had finally kicked in. Soon he was able to see through Raven's eyes very clearly (and vice versa), talk to her telepathically, levitate very small objects, channel a small amount of her powers, and…well slow down his rate of fall. He just could not seem to get full levitation down, and while this would have been useful, at least now he would have a greater chance of survival when he jumped from a building again.

Raven made it quite clear; however, that she was only doing this on a trial basis. She was still not comfortable with the concept of a familiar of her own, especially when said familiar was not only her teammate, but her boss. She said several times that if anything bad happened, and she would define bad, then she was going to block their connection as well as she could for as long as she wanted, which would essentially strip Robin of all his new abilities.

As for himself, while Robin liked having these new options available, he did not plan to use them unless the situation was truly dire. Deep down he was a warrior at heart, and always would be.

* * *

Robin knew they should be going soon, they still had a sword to find, but he felt that his team needed a break from all of this. So for the next two days the Titans rested: Cyborg taught the Nazlar children the finer points of sports, Starfire learned the Nazlar language (much to Robin's discomfort), Winterwing…did whatever it was wolves did to relax (which seemed to involve a lot of sleeping in the sun), Arcktos discussed political issues with Zarule (mentally preparing himself to actually rule a kingdom when he got home), Illeria made it a point to do nothing at all (like wolves, cats are experts at doing nothing), Jinx read…a lot, Robin tested his new abilities and learned some tricks from the Nazlar, and Raven and Beast Boy…enjoyed each other's company.

Dawn of the third day saw the team ready to get on with the journey, but before they went Zarule was determined to talk to Beast Boy. He had noticed that the green one was giving his granddaughter quite a bit of attention, and he felt like he needed to have a talk with him.

Privately.

"Umm, is there anything wrong? Sir?" Beast Boy said. He had been told to go see the king in his private room, and frankly the poor shape shifter was scared of his mind.

"Boy," Zarule growled, his body turned towards a window "What exactly have you been doing with my granddaughter?"

Beast Boy gulped. Great, now he was getting a "father talk" from his girlfriend's grandfather. But he was not going to back down.

"Sir, I love her." He said, bluntly.

He did not know it, but this forward answer impressed Zarule. He expected the boy to beat around the bush.

"Are you sure about that?" Zarule said, finally looking at Beast Boy "It's not even close to mating season, boy."

Beast Boy shuffled uncomfortably "Sir, humans don't have mating seasons. I know that makes you think that we are a little…odd. Trust me, I've been a bunch of different creatures with that kind of thing. I…look, what I'm saying is I'm not going to hurt her."

"Perhaps not, but are you worthy of her?"

"Sir…shouldn't that be her choice?" Beast Boy said. "I like her, and she likes me. Shouldn't that be all that matters?"

"Can you protect her?"

Beast Boy laughed "Look, Raven is the last person who needs to be protected by a man…but if she ever were in trouble, I'd be right there to help her. And I'll also say this: I don't want to fight with you over her, but I'm not going to give her up, either. You know?"

Zarule gazed at the young man. At first he had been convinced that this little green plant muncher was weak and small, but now the king's opinion was changing. He had heard what the little guy had done in the battle. Right now he could see the determination in Beast Boy's eyes, and he knew that this human really would fight for Raven with all his heart.

"I don't know what your traditions are, but if you ever need to battle another for her, than I wish you to be the victor." Zarule said, and Beast Boy thought that this might be the Nazlar version of a father giving his daughter's boyfriend his blessing…at least he hoped that was what this was.

"Thank's sir." Beast Boy said, heading for the door "Don't worry; I'll take care of her!"

"Boy?" Zarule said as Beast Boy's hand touched the door "If you ever hurt her in any way I'll snap your spinal column."

Beast Boy tried not to gulp as he left, wondering why everyone he met assumed he was going to hurt Raven.

* * *

Soon the Titans were riding towards the rather impressive landmark known as the Dragonfang Mountains. They had no idea, however, that they were leaving behind legends of themselves. Nazlar love a good story, and by nightfall Nazlar solders who had been in the battle where telling their infants and young ones about the brave team of Earth superheroes who had destroyed an evil portal and had fought beside one of the greatest warriors the Makhar had ever known. Eventually as time passed the Titans became a bit like folk heroes in the eyes of the Nazlar, and like all legends they would take on almost mythic status in time.

The Titans had left behind a legend of themselves, but the next great step in that legend was yet to come.

* * *

A/N: Hope that will tide you over until I find out if I have Internet or not at the new place.

Jeez, this fic grew longer than I thought. If I keep going like this I'll hit forty chapters…


	35. Chapter 35

An Author's note: In this chapter there is going to be a bit of brief crossing over with The Chronicles of Narnia and the video game Shadow of the Colossus. I don't own them. I am not that brilliant.

See if you can spot them.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four

Testing…One, Two, Three

As it turned out the fact that they had chosen to cross the Nazlar kingdom meant that they did not really have to deal with the desert at all. The desert in question was noticeably thin in the area, even though Raven said that it got wider and bigger the further west you went. Thankfully they only had to spend and day in the scorching heat before they came to the mountains.

But then they had to deal with another climate related problem.

"Why! Why do the tops of mountains have to be so cold!?" Beast Boy chattered as he clung to his night horse. It had been three days since they had left the Nazlar kingdom and entered the mountains, and they had reached the altitude that generates snow. They were traveling along a narrow mountain path very high up. One might say too high up. Beast Boy was not taking snow any better than he had the last time he experienced the stuff. The poor green guy was huddled on his night horse and shivering.

"I mean, come on dudes, this is ridiculous." He chattered.

"Why don't you just turn into something with fur if you are so cold?" Raven asked.

Beast Boy's eyes light up with sudden mischief. Raven noticed the look and mentally groaned. Even though she was now sure she liked him that did not stop from thinking that he could be a royal pain sometimes.

This view was confirmed when he changed to a green fluffy ferret and leaped onto her shoulders and curled himself around her neck. She glared at him. He looked up at her with his beady little ferret eyes and tried to look as pathetic as possible. He shivered for emphasis. Raven groaned in exasperation…and pulled her cloak over her head.

"Just. This. Once." She growled. He nuzzled her neck, and Raven tried not to smile. It would just encourage him.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy's night horse's head had shot up. She looked around as if confused by the sudden departure of her rider, but then she seemed to shrug and trotted on as if nothing had happened.

Illeria, meanwhile, had been looked at Raven and Beast Boy and frowning…or at least it looked like a frown. At first she had been glad that her sister had seemed to find a boy she liked and who seemed to like her. However, Illeria knew that this could not last long, and had a feeling she need to stop this before it went too far. She winced at the thought of hurting Raven, but unless she wanted Raven to be more hurt in the future then she needed to stop this right now.

"Hey! Is that what we are looking for?" Cyborg bellowed from up front.

Raven rode over to him. Cyborg was looking at huge…well it looked like combination of a bridge and a spiral staircase. About five feet from where they were there was an opining to a huge valley with sheer walls that looked impassible. However, someone had built a stone bridge. But the bridge was not complete. In the middle it seemed to spiral downward like a staircase. The stairs led to a huge diamond shaped building floating on a lake. The bottom part of the building was inside the lake itself, while the upper half pointed to the sky. Narrow platforms connected the place to the banks on either side.

"Yep, that's it." Raven said.

Beast Boy plopped out of Raven's cloak, turned back into a human long enough to say "Cooooool." Then immediately changed back to ferret and leaped back under the hood.

"I've become a taxi for a rodent." Raven muttered.

Beast Boy shifted his head back to human and said "Actually, ferrets aren't rodents. They're Mustelids." He shifted his head back.

"…what?" Raven asked. She was not used to hearing a vocabulary word fly out of Beast Boy's mouth that she was unfamiliar with.

"Let's keep going." Robin said as he started towards their goal.

"Oh man, is that thing safe?" Cyborg asked, giving the bridge/staircase a dubious look.

"Don't worry about it." Arcktos said, trying to give Cyborg a reassuring look. Cyborg groaned and urged his night horse on the bridge.

"So what exactly is that building?" Robin asked.

"According to some people within all sentient creatures dwells a beast that somehow defines them." Raven said "They say that if you can reach this creature then it will lend its power to you. But no one knows how one is supposed to find this creature. The place we are going to is supposed to a monument to their power, and it's the place where we can find Truehope's soul."

"So we just walk in a grab it?" Cyborg asked.

"Of course not Metal Head." Jinx said. "There's probably going to be some sort of magical test thingy. There always is in this kind of situation. It's like a rule."

"Like what?" Cyborg asked.

"Honestly, do you know _anything_?" Illeria asked in exasperation.

"I'd like to see you try to build a spaceship." Cyborg muttered, but Illeria heard him.

"Why, pray tell, would I want to?"

"Knock it off you two. We're almost there." Robin said. He spotted Lightflight flapping around the tower. The dragon had come for one reason, to help them get back home. The dragon knew the same teleportation spell that Raven did, but since she had no powers at the moment they would have to rely on Lightflight. Robin had mixed feelings about this. Intellectually he knew that Lightflight meant well, but something about the dragon made Robin nervous.

Illeria decided to ignore Cyborg for now. She had noticed that Beast Boy was back to nuzzling Raven's neck with his little ferret nose, and the expression on Raven's face made it very clear that not only did she not mind a bit, but that she might actually like it.

"Hey Raven, can I talk to you and Beast Boy…in private." She said.

"Ummm, sure Illeria." Raven said cautiously. "You guys go on ahead." She told the others.

"What is it?" She asked when the other's where out of earshot.

"Look" Illeria paused and sighed "This has to stop."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and him." Illeria pointed to Beast Boy, who chattered at her in an annoyed way. "You can't keep doing this."

"What are you trying to get at?" Beast Boy shifted back to human "What are you trying to do here?"

"I'm trying to protect both of you!" Illeria growled "I can tell that you like each other, but you can't do this. It will only hurt both of you in the end. Raven's powers-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Beast Boy bellowed "That's always what it's about isn't it?! Powers, powers, powers! That's all you people can blabber about when it comes to her! Why can't any of you stop to thing about what Raven wants!"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's DANGEROUS!" Illeria shot back.

"Excuse me, but-" Raven started, but the two of them where on a roll.

"Why you selfish little-" Beast Boy started.

"I'M SELFISH! I just want to keep the both of you from being blown to bits! How is that selfish!?"

"There is no way I'm going to let you mess this up for us!" Beast Boy shouted. By now the other Titans had stopped and were giving the three of them looks.

"You stupid little green fool!" Illeria said "You-"

"SHUT UP!" Raven screamed "BOTH OF YOU!"

After a few moments of stunned silence Raven spoke again. Her voice was filled with sorrow as she looked at Beast Boy "She's right."

"What?" Beast Boy gave her an incredulous look.

"I…nothing bad has happened yet because I don't have my powers…but once a get them back…this will never work Beast Boy!"

It nearly killed her to see Beast Boy's ears droop in sorrow and anguish. "But Raven…" he started.

"Okay! That's it!" Cyborg shouted. He was tired of keeping his mouth shut. "It's time for me to say something!"

"Cyborg?" Beast Boy gave his friend a odd look. In fact, everyone was looking at him.

Cyborg slowly got off Gigantus and walked over to Raven. He was eye to eye with her now.

"All this time we've been looking for this stupid sword thing. And why? So you can get your powers back. But Rae, I have to tell you this. You don't need your powers! Look at what you've done! Look at who far we have gotten! Why don't we just forget about getting your powers back and go home?"

Raven stared at Cyborg, her expression unreadable.

"Look," he continued "this is your big chance, Rae! You don't have to keep control over your powers all the time! You can have a chance at being happy for once…you don't have to do this."

Raven looked at the ground and thought. She thought long and hard. Secretly she had been dreading getting her powers back. She didn't want to go back to keeping a tight rein on her emotions for fear of destroying something. Cyborg was right. If she just let this go…But she could not just leave her powers in the hands of a madman!

She came to a conclusion.

"You're only half right, Cyborg." She said. "I can't leave my powers with Sumal…but…" she looked up with a strange little grin on her face "There's no rule that says I have to take my powers back."

"Huh?" Beast Boy was confused.

"Instead of reabsorbing my powers I'll just take the pendent that has them trapped. Then…maybe we can bury it in a hole…or something." Raven shrugged. "We'll still need Truehope, but…I don't really need my powers back, do I?"

Illeria stared at her "Are you sure about this Raven?"

"More sure than I've ever been." Raven turned to her sister.

Illeria smiled "If it makes you happy than that is what you should do. Besides…it is completely unfair that should have those powers in the first place."

Cyborg grinned. Finally his little sister was going to get the opportunity to experience everything she could not with her powers! Now she and Beast Boy really had a chance to make this work.

"So…Raven," Beast Boy started as they continued on their way. He had been wanting to ask her something for a long time, and he thought that now was the best time "you…would you like to…you know…go somewhere Friday…like dinner or something?" His mind mentally reeled when it realized he had just asked her out on a date.

To his relief Raven gave him a rare warm smile "Sure." She said.

* * *

The monument was empty. Completely devoid of all life. All around them where statues of various beasts: panthers, wolves, horses, hawks, vultures, elk, and even small creatures like mice and rats. They were all different colors as well, and not the colors usually associated with the animal in some cases. For one thing animals do not usually come in monochrome.

In the center of the floor was a huge tile picture of a magnificent golden lion standing on a hill, its mane waving in an invisible wind, its face lifted to the sky as if looking at something no one else could see. Although its head was turned heavenward Beast Boy got the feeling that this magnificent creature was looking at them. That it could see them somehow. It stirred up feelings and memories inside Beast Boy that he could not seem to remember completely. All he could remember was a name: Aslan.

Beast Boy shook his head, trying to get the weird feeling to go away. Now was not the time to be collecting fuzz.

He turned his attention to the front of the room, where a strange floating…silver ballish thing was…well floating above what looked like a small circular stone table.

"Dude, is that it?" Beast Boy said in awe.

"Yes." Raven said as she approached the thing.

Abruptly the silver ball thing flared up. A voice, low and very annoyed, issued from it.

"Okay, which one of you mortals wants to try and take me?"

"I'm guessing you're Truehope, right?" Raven asked.

"Yes, yes. Now do I have to repeat myself?"

"No. I'm the one who wants to take you." Raven said.

"Hmp…I see you already have a perfectly good sword with you…why do you need me?"

"There is a wizard I need to fight, but I don't have the power."

"Typical. Classic. Someone can't deal with their problems themselves so they go gallivanting off to find the magic sword. Well, whatever. You should know, of course, that you have to prove yourself, right?"

"What do I have to do?" Raven said.

"It's the standard thing. Nothing you would not expect." The sword said, a bit to nonchalantly "You have to bring me three crystals, all of which can be found right here. The first one can be found in the body of a shadow beast that flies this valley. Go to the top of this tower, slay this beast, and take the crystal from it. Once you have it come back here."

It sounded simple enough…almost too simple. Raven thought that something was odd about all of this. She shoved the thought away. Looking around she spotted some stairs and started up with Mithrah. The others tried to follow them, but a force field jumped in front of them before they got two steps.

"She does this herself." The sword said "Sorry, it's the rules. The horse can go, but that is it."

Beast Boy cursed.

* * *

It seemed like those darned steps went on forever, but eventually Raven found the top. She exited an arched doorway into the sunlight. She blinked a bit from the sudden light. She was on a large circular platform on the very top of the monument. It looked like a huge outdoor garden, full of small trees and plants.

Raven mounted Mithrah and rode him forwards. Eventually the trees parted to reveal what looked like a large mound of sand right in the middle of the sky garden.

Just as she was contemplating the strangeness of this the sand started to shake.

From the sand came an eerie black mist. At first it was nothing but an intangible blob, but then it started to take shape.

Inky black wings spread against the sky. Talons formed, along with a long, feathery tail. A long neck stretched out and a serrated beak screamed. What was now hovering above Raven looked almost like her own raven soul-self, except for the long neck and tail, which where reminiscent…of a dragon.

The creature dove towards her and Mithrah. She rode the horse in the opposite direction, not ready for this thing yet. It soared closer and closer, ready to snag her. Raven spotted the gem she was looking for, shining brightly on the beast's chest.

Raven got an idea.

_I must be a loon._ She thought as she turned around in her saddle. Nervously, she had never done this before; she shakily stood up in the saddle. Trying not to think to hard about what she was doing she leaped up as the beast swooped closer and grabbed the left talon in her hands.

The creature hovered and shook its claw, trying to dislodge her, but she clung to it like a leech. She struggled upwards inch by inch.

Finally she reached the creature's chest. She could see the crystal shining brightly. She would have to cut it out. She gripped Whistler with one hand and plunged it into the creature's chest. It screamed and clawed and flapped its wings, desperate to dislodge her, but she was determined. Reaching into the hole she had made she grabbed the crystal and extracted it with a grunt.

The beast screamed one last time, its body dissolving into thin air. Then it looked straight at her.

It eyes were purple.

As the creature faded Raven noticed the fact that she was in the air, with the beast, and hovering a few thousand miles over land.

The last of the creature faded, and Raven dropped to the earth. Fortunately, however, a certain night horse was there to lend a back.

As she gripped Mithrah's mane she tried to slow her breathing down and return her heart rate to normal. She let Mithrah take her back down to the others.

* * *

Raven placed the white crystal on the circular table in front of the soul of Truehope. "Okay, what now?" She asked.

"So…did that creature remind you of something?" the sword asked.

"Just tell me what to do next." Raven growled, not in the mood.

"Do you see the door behind me?"

"Yes."

"Go through it, the next one is in there." The sword said.

Raven gave the thing another suspicious look. She kept her eyes on it as long as she could, as if she was waiting for the thing to bite her. She entered the doorway, this time Mithrah-less. He simply could not fit through the door.

Raven walked through the dark hall, wondering what this was really about. Sure it seemed like what you would expect from a magical test, but something was off. She could not place her finger on it, but she did not like it.

She emerged into a dark room on a wide stone bridge. She could see a set of tiles on the floor, and straight across from her was a brown crystal.

This could only be one thing. No doubt certain tiles would trigger traps when stepped on, but a few of them would not. She would have to proceed carefully.

She looked closely at the tiles and noticed that a few of them where a different shade then the rest. These different shaded tiles lead to the crystal in a squiggly line. Could those be the right tiles?

Hoping she was right she stepped on a different colored tile.

She was wrong.

Instantly the bridge started to rock from side to side. Flames emerged from holes along the walls and arrows came streaming down form the ceiling.

Worse the bridge started crumbling behind her.

"Typical." Raven groaned. She ran, dodging flames and arrows as she went while trying to keep her balance on the rickety bridge. She was almost to the end when a pair of nice rusty looking pendulum blades came crashing down in front of her. She paused for just a second and an arrow hit her leg. Growling in pain she leaped forwards. Somehow she made it across. Her hands grabbed the crystal just as the rest of the bridge crumbled beneath her.

She expected to fall into the darkness, but instead her knees hit the floor with a thud. She looked around and found herself in a plain bare room. She looked down at her leg and saw nothing there, not even a scar.

"That was some illusion spell." Raven said as she got to her feet. After looking about her to make sure nothing else was going to jump her, she exited the room.

* * *

"Okay, that's two. Where is the third one?" Raven snarled as she slammed the crystal on the table, already fed up with this.

"Touchy, aren't we?" the sword seemed to be amused.

"Would cut the crap already?" Raven asked, her temper growing short.

"No. The last one is at the bottom of the monument, in the water. Don't worry about drowning, there is a spell. Once you are at the very bottom you will find a pool of water. Enter it and you will find the last test."

Raven nodded and walked down the stairs, down into the depths of the monument.

* * *

The Black Fox grinned. It was almost time. Just a bit longer and she would get to have some real fun.

Just a bit longer.

* * *

A/N: Hope you did not forget about the Black Fox! She is still around and ready to cause trouble. Tune in next time! 


	36. Chapter 36

An Author's Note: Thanks to Mothman X for his reviews!

Chapter Thirty-Five

Dashing Hope

* * *

It was almost like being in an aquarium.

Whatever was holding the glass in the bottom of the monument must have been a very good spell indeed. She could look out the windows of the place and see little fish swimming about outside. It was a good thing Raven was accustomed to magic, or she would have been nervous, especially when she realized that magic was probably the only thing keeping this place together.

It got darker and darker the further she went, mostly because she was descending deeper and deeper into the water. She noticed water dripping along the walls, and started to wonder about the sturdiness of this place.

She saw light ahead. Hopefully the last test was there and she could finish this up and go home. She entered an arched doorway and found herself in a circular room with a giant pool in the middle. It looked cold and dark…and fairly nasty.

She took a deep breath and plunged.

* * *

She never even got wet. There was a flash of light and she was standing in a completely white expanse. She looked around her. The pool entrance was behind her and directly in front of her was a dark blue crystal.

She started walking towards it, but was soon stopped by an echoing voice.

"RAVEN! HELP!" It was Robin's voice and it was coming from the pool.

"Robin?" she turned towards the pool.

_Turn back now, and you will never get the crystal._ Another voice said, but this one was in her head.

But she could hear them now, all of them, screaming for her help. She could not just leave them, even though intellectually she knew that this might be a trick, she could not take the risk that it was not. She ran back to the pool without a second thought.

_Go back, and you will fail._

"I don't care." She growled. "They're more important.

_You will never get a second chance._

"Buzz off."

_You would give up all that power for them?_

Raven decided not to grace that with an answer.

_…is this really your final choice?_ _Think of all you will be giving up!_

Raven ignored the voice and jumped in the pool.

_…Finally!_

* * *

Instead of landing back at the circular room at the bottom of the monument she ended up in the room where her friends where. She jumped up, almost in a panic.

"Are you guys alright?" she asked.

"We're fine Raven." Robin was looking at her in puzzlement.

Raven sighed and turned around. It had been a trick all along! And she fell for it!

"Raven…you were successful?" Starfire asked timidly.

"No," she said quietly, "I failed."

"On the contrary," Truehope spoke up. "You did exactly what I've been waiting for someone to do."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

"I never really cared about those stupid crystals. Darn silly thing to do to just judge someone by their ability to collect rocks. What I was really looking for was your reaction to the third test…for to long I would get moronic musclemen and prideful Amazons who would always ignore the screams of their allies, guessing it was a trick. Some generally thought it through, but most simply did not care. I do not want a wielder so selfish they would ignore a friend in need! My former master was not like that, and if I will be taken by anyone I would prefer to have someone like him….So you have won the challenge…I will go with you."

Raven was a bit pissed about this, but she was not about to say no. She drew Whistler out, but then paused at the sword's thrum.

"If I do this…what happens to Whistler?"

"Don't worry; Whistler's soul will still be there." Truehope replied "This merging will not push that one away. We will share the same vessel. When you need me call on me, and when you want Whistler call on him…think of it as having two swords in one."

"Great, a schizophrenic sword." Raven muttered. But she still walked forwards. She pointed the tip of Whistler at the glowing orb.

Truehope's soul gathered itself and then darted to Whistler. The soul slammed into Whistler, causing it to thrum even louder than before. Raven was nearly blown off her feet by the impact. It seemed to course throughout her body. The room was filled with a flash of silver light, and the thrumming slowed back to its normal pace.

"Cooooool." Beast Boy said as he stared at the sword.

"Yes…very impressive." A voice, feminine, soft and low, came from behind the Titans. They turned, and set eyes on the oddest creature they had ever seen.

It looked, at first glance, like a human wearing the skin of a black fox, but when you looked closer you would see that this was not the case at all. The fur was a part of this creature. The bottom part of the mouth was human, but the top part was sharp vulpine fox. The palms of its hands were normal, but the tops seemed to be in the middle of morphing into a fox paw. It was like someone had put on a fox fur coat, but the coat had been fused to the skin. It's were swirling pools of bright rainbow colors with no pupils to speak of. It was grinning at them savagely with its sharp teeth, its half-paw holding what an appeared to be a pair of dice, and it was throwing them in the air in a casual manner.

"No." Raven stared at the creature as if she had just seen a ghost. "You can't be-"

"Oh, yes…I guess you out of everyone here must have heard of me…but your little buddies there" the dice less paw pointed at the Titans "are looking very confused."

"What are you?" Robin growled, pulling out his bo staff.

Laughter, cold and amused, echoed. "You really thing that silly little stick can do anything, kid? I am the Black Fox, and I've been here since before your planets microbes got the idea to breed, so stop acting like you are somehow important!"

"The elders call you a trickster." Raven growled. "They say that you maneuver people into positions they cannot escape, and that you twist the truth to suit yourself."

"Hey," the Fox spread her arms out wide "I've never shown anyone anything other then the truth…what the do with that knowledge…I have no control over that…"

"I'll bet." Raven growled.

"Hmmm, you want proof? What if I told you that the path you are on right now will lead the destruction of all you love? What would you say that that?"

"Stay away from us!" Raven shouted.

"Too late." The Black Fox's grin seemed wider than the Cheshire Cat's. She snapped her fingers.

And everything disappeared.

* * *

It looked like the end of the world again. Destroyed buildings, lakes of fire, the only thing missing was the petrified people…but that was easily explained by the face that the streets of Jump city were covered with blood. Up in the sky something was soaring. The Titans looked up and saw what appeared to be Raven's black soul self, apparently on a rampage.

"Amazing what can happen when you leave dark powers just lying around…isn't it?" The Black Fox said, a huge grin on her face.

"What happened?" Starfire asked with wide eyes.

"It's simple. This is what will happen if your friend here doesn't take her powers back." The Black Fox was staring at the dark soul self, still grinning like a loon.

"You're lying!" Raven shouted "This is some sort of trick."

"No…I'm not. Didn't you elders tell you what I can do? I see the timelines of the worlds."

"So…you can see the future?" Robin asked.

"Time is not what you think, little boy. Time not a river or a line or anything like that. It is like a ball of yarn that has been thrown around a room. You people are ants crawling around the yarn. You can only see what it behind you and directly in front of you, you can't see what can or what might be."

"What are you talking about?" Robin was puzzled.

"Only this," The Fox's eyes narrowed, and now she looked serious. "Make the wrong choice and this will be your future…make the right choice and it won't…you decide."

A flash, and the Titans where back in the monument, and the Black Fox was nowhere in sight.

After a long pause Raven sighed "I guess I really never had a choice after all." She said sadly.

"No…" Beast Boy said "Rae…it was lie! It had to be lie!"

"Beast Boy…" Raven looked at him with longing eyes "We can't take the chance that it is not! If I don't take my powers back and they get loose…Don't you see we can't allow that to happen! Without me to control them my powers really could go on a rampage!"

"But…" Beast Boy shook his head. _Dude, this is so unfair!_

A long sad silence followed as it sank into everyone there that Raven's hopes for being normal were now destroyed. Cyborg was probably the one most upset by this after Raven and Beast Boy themselves. He didn't want to see his poor sister unhappy again, and really just wanted to find that Black Fox and put some hurt on her.

"Guys," Raven finally said "we should get going."

"Yeah," Robin said in a low sad voice. "Where's that dragon?"

As if the question had summoned him, Lightflight landed just outside the monument at that precise moment.

"What happened in there?" He asked the Titans as they came out, all of them looking downcast.

"Never mind." Raven said shortly "I guess this is goodbye, huh." She turned to look at Arcktos, Winterwing and Illeria.

"Yeah…I have to get back to my people." Arcktos said. He embraced Raven tightly "Don't give up hope, h'Radoni." He whispered.

"Don't call me that." She whispered back.

Arcktos cocked his head, but didn't say anything else.

"I…think I'll tag along with you to Earth…at least for a little bit." Illeria said, giving her sister a concerned look.

"I have a request." Winterwing said, looking directly at Robin. "Now that Sanath is dead I have no reason to stay here. Raven is the only one left of my pack. I wish to go with you, and stay."

"You want to become a Titan?" Robin asked, not quite belivign that.

"Not right away…and maybe not ever. But I do wish to hunt near Raven, if that is alright with you."

"Well, we do have a very nice island you can live on…just don't go eating anyone's pets." Robin said with a nod.

"If that is settled, can I please get on with the spell?" Lightflight asked in an irritated manner.

"Sure, take us home!" Robin said.

* * *

"Dude! It's Halloween already!" Beast Boy asked as they landed right in front of Titans Tower.

"No…this isn't right!" Raven said.

And indeed it was not. Someone had, in their absence, covered the tower with huge spider webs. The fact that it was raining and storming and nighttime only added to the eeriness of the scene.

"Do you think it's…" Cyborg trailed off, not wanting to say the name that was racing through their minds.

"Sumal." Robin's eyes narrowed beneath his mask.

"But that means…KID FLASH!" Jinx broke into a run towards the Tower, headless of her allies shouts to come back.

"Man, I so have a bad feeling about this." Cyborg muttered as he and others ran to catch up with Jinx.

* * *

" I was wondering when you would get back here. Been on a vacation?" Sumal said as the Titans burst through their own Ops door. The evil wizard was standing in front of the main window, looking out at the rain. Over near the kitchen Riki was hovering over a bloody form in yellow spandex. Kid Flash.

Jinx screamed in anger and went straight for the spider, which reared on its hind legs to challenge the angry Titan.

Sumal turned to aid his familiar, but soon came face to face with Raven, who by now was really, really…angry.

Sumal didn't even stop to bandy words with his foe. He attacked, using Raven's own powers against her. A blast of black energy flew Raven's direction, but it was countered by Truehope's silver energy.

Sumal studied this new development with careful eyes. He switched weapons, trying for the toy gun, but Raven darted forwards with her sword. It split the gun in two, the stolen energy flying out of the weapon and then darting away.

Sumal stared at his broken weapon, puzzled. Raven took this opportunity and grabbed the pendent with her hand and started to pull on the chain. Sumal's hand came up and he grabbed the side of her face, sending horrible pain throughout her body. She clung onto the pendent with all her might.

Suddenly a pair of green paws encircled Sumal's waist and started to squeeze the life from the wizard. Sumal looked up the snarling face of a huge green grizzly bear, who had the audacity to drool in his eye.

This, more than anything else, caused the evil man to let go of Raven. Raven gave the chain one last yank, and it came free. The pendent shattered in her hand, and the power began to flow into her.

It was like swallowing tar, it felt just as horrible coming back into her. With it came the anger and rage inherit in a demon, and it found the anger that was already gripping her. Raven screamed and fell to her knees, the dark power consuming her completely.

* * *

In Nevermore a similar thing was occurring. Emotions where falling down everywhere, all of them screaming in pain except for Rage, who was laughing as if she had just won the lottery.

Love groaned in horror as she looked down at her hands. They were bulging and growing razor sharp claws.

"NO!"

* * *

Illeria stared at her sister, her fanged mouth open in terror "Not again!" she whispered.

To the Titans it was almost like the Doctor Light incident, except for one major difference. Instead of merely waving around, the tentacles of darkness that emerged from Raven's cloak seemed to be trying to consume her themselves. They were crawling up her body at an incredible pace. Just before they overtook her head the Titans saw Raven's eyes split into four glowing red eyes.

Just then Robin felt a strange slamming sensation in his mind, as if someone had just shut a door there. He realized he could not longer feel Raven's emotions, she must have put a block on their bond.

Beast Boy roared, dropped Sumal and lunged for the black form on the floor, desperate to save Raven from whatever was happening to her. A black shock wave blew him away.

Then his world was filled with teeth.


	37. Chapter 37

An Author's Note: By now you should have figured out that I really don't like to stay strictly within whatever is laid out in a series if I can think up something I think is more interesting. Raven's demon form is not exception. I figured I try something other than just her with red skin or something like that. If you are a traditionalist and I offend you: sorry.

For those of you who don't care about a little intellectual tweaking, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six

Primal Demon

Beast Boy could barely comprehend what he was seeing as he fell backwards. He caught a glimpse of dark red, almost black, fur with bright white stripes and what appeared to be a pair of bat-like blue wings. He closed his eyes, half expecting to feel fangs at his neck, but it never happened. Instead the screams of a certain wizard filled his ears.

Beast Boy looked to where the screams where coming from and saw a dark figure standing over the evil wizard. I was partly hidden by its wings. The figure was snarling like an enraged cat. Then it spread its wings, and Beast Boy got a really good look at what Raven had become.

She now looked more like Trigon than she had ever before. She had grown almost to the size of Cyborg, but she lean instead of muscular. She had long dark red fur with white stripes. Her face had transformed to something more reminiscent of a lioness except for the huge swept back horns on her head. Her hair…actually it was more like a mane now, had become pitch black. She had a long tufted tail. She was standing on her hind legs, but the fact that she was leaning forward a bit gave Beast Boy the impression that she could also go on all fours. Bits and pieces of her uniform fell to the floor in tatters, the only thing that remained completely intact was her cloak, which was still hanging around her long neck.

Worst of all, she had four red glowing eyes, and all of them where aimed directly at Sumal.

She roared, again like an enraged lioness, and lunged for Sumal. Long claws extended from her furry hands and started tearing at the wizard. Her fangs dug into Sumal's shoulder and she started shaking him around.

"RAVEN NO!" Beast Boy was horrified, not just by what she was doing, but what might happen to her because of it. He could clearly remember the first time he turned into a beast, and the threat Robin had made about putting him in jail for it.

His shout attracted her attention, and she turned to look at him, blood streaming down her chin. She snarled, and Beast Boy could not tell if she could recognize him or not, for he could not read those savage red eyes.

"Rae…it's me." Beast Boy held his hands up. "Come on, you know me. Don't let her take you over Rae. If I can do it so can you!" As he spoke Raven was slowly stalking towards him, her head cocked to the side. Judging from her behavior Beast Boy thought she was more curious than anything else, and that was good. It meant she was thinking.

While all of this was going on, on the other side of the Titans kitchen counter, Winterwing was staring down Riki. Jinx had managed to make it to Kid Flash. He was in a pretty bad state. It looked like both of his legs had been broken, and he was covered in cuts. Jinx was trying to get him to wake up, but he wouldn't, or maybe he couldn't. She was trying to take care of him when the spider attacked her. However, the big wolf had jumped in front of both in them and had started growling at the spider.

Winterwing lunged at the spider. The two rolled about the floor, Wintering snapping at the creature's ugly face. Finally his teeth found a leg, and he started pulling. Within a few seconds he had torn the limb off. The spider backed up and reared on its remaining legs.

An enraged and pissed off Jinx then got from where she had been examining her boyfriend an sent the most powerful hex bolt she had ever created at the horrible spider. She knew perfectly well what it would be like for wizard to lose his familiar, it would be like tearing off a limb for a wizard, but she did not care. In fact, you might say she planned on it. For a second she was villain again, and Sumal had just gotten on her bad side. She attacked the spider mercilessly.

Riki was blown back, but was only stunned. Winterwing, who did not have the morals as a Titan…or even a human for that matter, took the opportunity that presented itself. He jumped on the spider and sank his fangs into what he perceived to be the spider's venerable spot. Riki writhed and kicked its legs, but then lay still, dead.

Then Sumal, feeling the affects of losing a familiar, howled in pain and rage. For some reason this seemed to agitate Raven. She whirled around and from out of her mouth came a huge fireball. Sumal tried to dodge it, but it still caught him in its blaze. He screamed and stared rolling around, and the other Titans rushed over. Sumal was put out, but he was also unconscious and badly burned.

Perhaps all those people running her direction at once startled Raven. She snarled at her friends, the middle of her back rose to the sky and she hissed. She ran to the window and crashed through it. Once outside her wings caught the air and she took flight.

Beast Boy didn't even think about waiting for the others. He ran to the hole in the window and turned into a hawk, desperate to bring his love back.

Robin ran the widow as well, now thoroughly angry. It was like a repeat of the Beast incident, except now it was Raven and not Beast Boy, and it looked like her more primal form was even more powerful than the Beast.

"Illeria…what was that?" He turned to the feline warrior, who eyes had glazed over, lost in memories. At the sound of Robin's voice she snapped out of it.

"That's…Raven's demon form. That is what happens when she feels so much rage and anger she cannot handle it anymore. We have to stop her!"

"How?" Cyborg asked.

"Whatever means necessary." Was Illeria's grim answer.

* * *

Looking back it was probably a very stupid thing to have stayed that late at the library doing research for school, but the young girl had left off this particular assignment for to long. So she had stayed late, and now she was paying the price by walking home to her foster parent's in the rain.

She paused to look at the huge T shaped tower in the distance. A piece of blond hair fell into her blue eyes and she brushed it away. It had only been a few months since that strange green boy…Beast Boy, had taken her to that tower and insisted she was someone else…someone named Terra. The girl had to admit that something had seemed familiar about the tower, but she had shoved those feelings away as some sort of strange deja-vu.

Suddenly she saw a black shape land in an ally. She turned, and a two pairs of glowing red eyes glared at her from the darkness. There was something familiar about those eyes…so familiar, and so hateful.

The girl backed away slowly, thinking this was some sort of wild animal, and this thought was confirmed when the thing slunk out of the shadows, snarling in anger and hatred.

"No...stay away." The girl backed away from the red monster, but it kept coming, its unnatural eyes glaring at her.

Just before it lunged a green hawk dove from the clouds and shifted into human form. Beast Boy looked from his past love to his current one, now desperately trying to divert a bloody disaster.

"Rae, no! Stop!" he begged, but the sight and smell of her old foe had enraged Raven, and she lunged for Beast Boy. To her he was nothing but an obstacle now, and there was only one way to deal with obstacles. She sprang and sank her fangs into his upraised arm. He screamed and fell, shocked that she would do such a thing.

The girl, who may or may not have really been Terra, decided this was the best opportunity to leave, and she ran off for home. She silently vowed never to stay at a library this late again, or to walk within two miles of Titans Tower.

"RAVEN!" he screamed in horror, and her expression changed.

Perhaps it was the taste of his blood, or his scream, or the sight of his terror filled eyes, but whatever it was Raven let go and backed up. She whined, looking terribly confused and upset.

There was a whistling noise, and suddenly an arrow was sticking out of her back. Roaring in anger she turned to face this new attacker, but then stumbled and fell.

"NOOOOO!" Beast Boy got to his feet and managed to catch Raven's head before it hit the pavement. She looked up at him, the anger and hatred was back, but a few seconds later her eyes closed.

* * *

"Okay, did you have to us an ARROW!" Beast Boy bellowed in Illeria's face.

Illeria gave him a strange look, somewhere between grief and exasperation. "It was just meant to stun her a bit. Honestly, one arrow was not going to take her down, but the tranquilizer I coated the tip with should keep her out for a while."

Beast Boy growled. He was really unhappy. First they had shot her with an arrow, then they had stuck her in that "safe room" they had used during Trigon's arrival (only now it had been converted into a kind of prison for her), and on top of all that he still was not sure what Robin was planning for her. Sure he was her familiar and all, but the dude had once threatened Beast Boy in a situation very similar to this one.

It was hard for Beast Boy to forgive, let only forget, that instance.

"Illeria, what do you know about this?" Robin demanded. "We've seen Raven lose her temper before, but we have never seen her do this!"

"It is only triggered by a state of extreme rage." Illeria replied "And it is not natural at all. Trigon did this to her."

"How?" Starfire asked.

Illeria looked out the widow from the observation room at her sister, who was still asleep from the drugged arrow.

"It happened when she was just an infant, and I was a little girl. She had just been born a few days before, and her mother was still very weak from giving birth. Trigon's forces came and stole her away. The General followed to try and save her. But…he was too late. He brought her back, but the damage was done." Illeria was still looking at her sister.

"What did Trigon do to her?" Cyborg asked.

"Normally Raven's demon form would have…SHOULD have been like Trigon: A demon, but still more human than animal, but Trigon used his power to influence her demon form. He regressed it to a primitive state."

"But why?" Starfire asked.

"What is easier to control? A thinking being or an animal?" Illeria replied. "Trigon did it as a failsafe. In case his daughter decided to rebel against him. A primitive demon would be unable to deny the orders of a more advanced one. It is jus the way they are created."

At that moment Raven woke up. Screaming in anger she clawed and at walls and roared. Her claws created deep furrows in the wall, but thankfully they held.

"How long does this last?" Robin asked.

"I wish I knew." Illeria replied.

* * *

For three days she was like this.

When she was not attacking the walls of her prison or throwing fireballs from her mouth she was pacing around and snarling at the windows.

It broke the other's hearts to see her like this, their proud, sophisticated friend acting like an animal, but there was nothing they could do but wait, wait and hope that she would somehow snap out of this.

For Beast Boy it was even worse, this was the women he loved after all. But he was more upset by the fact that she was caged then the fact that she was more animal than human now. For some reason he found her demon form just as captivating as her human one. There was just something inside him that said there was nothing wrong with this at all, and to him she was still beautiful. Even the fact that she had bit him did not change his opinion.

At night Beast Boy was starting to have a strange dream. He was in his Beast form and Raven was in her demon form. They were running around a dark forest together, not hunting or fighting, just running. Enjoying the freedom of the wild and everything it stood for. He would always wake up feeling happy, but then he would feel horrible when reality set in.

At the end of the third day Robin walked into the observation room to check on Raven, and noticed something. She had changed again. She was huddled in the middle of the room, her cloak now completely covering her, something that she could not have done in her demon form.

"Raven!" Robin took a chance and ran down to the room entrance and went in. Her approached the form huddled on the ground "Are you okay?"

"Robin…" she whispered "What have I done?"

Robin finally managed to get a look at her face, and he gasped.

* * *

Robin tried to smuggle Raven back to her room, but it did not work. The others had had the same idea, and soon they had come down to check on their friend. When they saw her and Robin standing the halls they thought see was normal again.

Starfire squealed in joy, flew to Raven and preformed her famous hug attack. Raven tried to back away, but Starfire was just to fast for her.

"No…don't." Raven's voice was filled with anguish, and soon everyone found out the reason. Her hood dropped, revealing what Robin and Raven were trying to conceal.

Raven was still not quite fully transformed back to her normal form. Her face was normal now, but still covered in dark red fur. Little fangs poked out the sides of her mouth, and she still had small horns on her head. Quick as a flash she pulled her hood over her head and lowered it to the ground so they could not get another view.

"I, I just need to meditate…that's all. It'll go away if I meditate."

Beast Boy tried to get close to her, but she had already teleported back to her room. Beast Boy's ears drooped.

* * *

By that night Raven was back to normal…all most. Sure she looked normal now, but that was not the problem. It seemed to the Titans that she had regressed back to how she was like before they meet her, she rarely spoke to any of them, and when she did it was in a very subdued tone of voice. She acted like some with an explosive tied to their body ready to explode at any moment.

However, Beast Boy was not going to give up this easily.

_Okay Garfield, you can do this…after all she kinda already said yes…_

"Hey Raven." He knocked on her door, which stood before him like Dante's entrance to Hell, cold and unwelcoming. "Please open up."

The door opened a small crack. She looked out at him with sad eyes. He decided to forge ahead.

"You know its Friday right?" he tried for his best happy voice "Remember you said you'd go out with me? Well, I thought-"

"How can you even think about that?" Raven interrupted him; she looked at him like he had lost his mind. "I can't go out with you…no matter…how much I want to."

"Aw come on, it won't be that bad! I promise I'll behave!" Beast Boy pleaded.

"Beast Boy." Raven was not looking at his face anymore, she was looking at his arm, the arm she had bitten "It's too dangerous…I'm to dangerous. I could hurt you again…it's better that I be alone."

"No! Wait Raven!"

"I'm so sorry Beast Boy." She said before she slammed the door in his face.

He banged on the door, but she did not open it again. "Raven no! We can work through this! I know we can…come on, open up!"

The door did not open.

"I'm not giving up on you Raven!" he shouted at the cold steel "Even if you've given up on yourself I won't give up on you!"

He left, but he vowed to come back again tomorrow, and the next day and the next, until she finally stopped acting like this.

_Even if I only irritate her back to her old sarcastic self it will be worth it._ He thought.

* * *

With Beast Boy gone, for now, Raven went back to what she had been doing. Specially she was glaring at her back and willing what she saw there to go away. It was not working.

On her back, so small they could be easily hidden, but still there, where a pair of leathery dark blue wings. If she moved her shoulders just right they would flap around like they where trying to lift her into the sky, but they were far to small for that right now.

"Come on, go away!" she growled at the wings. "I don't want you here, buzz off."

The wings refused.

* * *

Sumal Kijak was sitting in his cell in Jump City jail, mad as any wizard can be. It had been bad enough that they had taken away all his magic items, leaving him with only the power he had been born with: the power to cause sensations to others through his hands, but they had also killed Riki! Oh they would pay for killing his precious little Riki!

Especially the pink witch and the wolf.

* * *

Right now said wolf was running about the Titans Island.

"Kinda small, but it will do." He muttered as he surveyed the territory. He had already spied a few caves that would do for a den, and he had a water source and plenty of small animals to munch. Illeria had gone home, but Winterwing was committed to staying.

"Well, time to claim the spot!" He pointed his muzzle to the sky and started to howl.

* * *

Somewhere in the city, something heard the howl and opened its eyes. It snarled through its own sharp fangs. A bushy tail lashed once, and then lay still. The creature shifted in its change and tried to howl back, but the muzzle around its mouth prevented it from doing such.

It sighed and lay down again. Closing its eyes it dreamt of the trees.

* * *

Jinx watched the heart monitor go up and down, the annoying beeping ringing in her ears. Even though the Titans had done everything they could, including Raven and her healing powers, Kid Flash refused to wake up.

"Come on you idiot, wake up! You can't slow down now!" Jinx said, but there was still nothing. She cursed.

She would stay there in the med lab all night, just like she had for the past four nights.

But still Kid Flash refused to wake up.

* * *

A few dimensions over a group of guards led a strangely familiar looking woman down a long dark hallway. It was clearly a prison hallway, due to the abundance of bars, but the prisoners were not making the usual fuss. In fact, a few of them where hiding under their beds, desperate not to catch the eye of their new cellmate. A single purple eye glared at everything, the other side of the person's face and eye had obviously been slashed by something in the past, but this disfiguring injury did not cause the guards to be any less cautious around her.

"I can't believe we finally caught his first lieutenant!" On of the guards whispered to another. "Let's see what that madman does now!"

The prisoner growled "Call Coyote a madman again and I'll rip your heart from your chest!"

"Yeah right! He is a nutcase and so are you! Besides you can't do anything! Your going to the big house, little lady."

"We'll see." The prisoner said, and as if that was a signal a creature appeared from out of a black void. It looked for all the world like a small flying Velociraptor, but the guards knew what this creature was, as it had been seen with the prisoner before.

"Shoot it!" their leader bellowed, but another flash of blackness consumed it and it escaped just in time.

"How is she using her powers? I thought we took care of that!" One of the guards bothered to ask.

The prisoner was laughing like a maniac. "Fool! Familiars can use the powers of a wizard!"

As she spoke the creature teleported to the guard and sank its fangs into his neck, ripping out his jugular vein. Black energy encased the prisoners bonds and they fell off.

Most of the guards decided now would be the best time to get backup, they ran like chickens, but the prisoner jumped on the one that had insulted her. Snarling like an animal she plunged her hand into his chest and snagged his most vital organ. After a moment of looking at it she gulped it down. For some reason this made her feel better.

The creature landed on her shoulder and gave her a look "Nice job." She said "now let's get out of here."

"Oh, leaving so soon?" The woman turned around. The Black Fox was leaning against a wall, throwing her dice into the air and gazing at the carnage. "That's to bad…I was hoping we could talk…Shantak."

"You know my name?" Shantak growled.

The Black Fox cocked an ear in behind her. "We probably should not be talking about this here. Not very…private. If you will come with me…" the Black Fox held out her hand.

Shantak glared at it, but after a moment of thought she took the hand, and they vanished long before the guards ever got there.

* * *

Deep within the couch cushions of the Titans sofa lurked a secret. The other copy of the evil book still existed, and during the battle it had somehow ended up between the cushions.

There it lay, waiting for someone to come along and pick it up.

Waiting patiently.

* * *

An Author's End Notes: Well, that is it for the first…book I suppose you can call this. It's just about as long as a full fledged novel…I think.

Don't worry, more will come eventually, and some of the little hanging plot threads I left around will be coming together.

Just for you info, I got the name Shantak from Lovecraft's _The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath_, in which the shantak are these really not nice bird monsters…see if you can figure out why…

I would like to thank all my nice reviewers, past present and future, for taking the time to read my story. To those of you read but did not leave a review for whatever reason, thank you as well.

Once again, with feeling, I do not own the Teen Titans, H.P. Lovecraft, Meat Loaf, the Chronicles of Narnia…oh heck if you see it and recognize it it's not mine and I make no claim to own it.

However, I do own all of my OCs. If you use an OC without my permission I will be very sore with you…and you won't like me when I am angry…(and I don't own that phrase either).

Tune in for the next part, which will be coming at you…eventually.

Have a nice day.


End file.
